Danielle MillerAMFT · Therapy for OCD, anxiety & intrusive thoughts
Online therapist in California for adults in their 20s and 30s with OCD, anxiety, and intrusive thoughts — gentle, evidence-based, and genuinely unhurried.
Is this you?
I know the kind of mind that asks what if and won't accept a maybe.
I have OCD myself, and I've done the work I help my clients do — so I'm not guessing about how exhausting the doubt can be.
My style is gentle. I want to understand what's happening before I ever ask you to do something hard, and I'll always check in: are you sure that's what you want? And — we don't have to do that if we don't want to.
For OCD and anxiety, the most effective approaches are exposure-based, so we go at a pace you can actually tolerate, paying close attention to what's happening in your body.
It's slow, kind work. And it tends to give you back the rooms in your life that the anxiety had quietly taken over.
The goal isn't to silence the what if. It's to stop letting it run the place.
What the work can feel like.
Gentler than people brace for. With OCD especially, most people arrive expecting to be pushed straight into the scariest thing, and that isn't how I work. We understand your experience first, and the exposure work only begins once it feels safe and actually makes sense to you. We don't have to do anything you're not ready for.
Because I've known the doubt from the inside, I tend to track it in the body and over time — the way a what-if tightens something, the way a ritual promises relief and quietly takes more than it gives. We practice letting a thought be there without answering it, at a pace you can tolerate.
The progress is often quiet: a ritual that loosens its grip, a place you can go again, a what-if you let pass without checking.
The doubt doesn't get the last word — and you don't have to earn calm by obeying it.
How I work.
I'm warm, patient, and a careful listener. With OCD and anxiety I always seek to understand before we do anything hard, and we move at a pace you can tolerate — never forced.
The most effective approaches for OCD are exposure-based, so I draw on Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), alongside CBT, mindfulness, and somatic, body-aware work. For more on why this kind of work changes the brain over time, see Why Therapy Works.
What I help with.
The themes that come up most in my work — each links to more on how Align approaches it:
Who I work with.
Adults in their 20s and 30s with OCD, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and the toll of chronic illness. Individual, couples, and family therapy. Culture is more than ethnicity to me: your age, parent status, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and financial reality all shape what you bring in.
Training & credentials.
- Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, California BBS #144995 — supervised by Jasmeet Bhullar, LMFT #117019
- Former OCD Exposure Coach at the Psychological Care and Healing Center
- Master's in Clinical Psychology, Pepperdine University
- Bachelor's in Communication & Media Studies, Westmont College
- Therapist at GroupWorks West; runs a somatic and eastern-medicine practice (Ayla Healing)
Logistics.
Sessions are held entirely online, on a secure platform, anywhere in California. Availability is flexible: Sunday through Friday, mornings, afternoons, and evenings. The regular rate is $200 per individual session ($250 for couples), with a limited number of reduced-fee slots and out-of-network reimbursement available. Start with a free 20-minute consultation.
Questions about working with Danielle — answered.
Does Danielle specialize in OCD?
Yes. OCD and intrusive thoughts are a core focus of my work. I use exposure-based methods, I've trained as an OCD exposure coach, and I also have lived experience with OCD myself — so I understand the doubt from the inside.
What is ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention)?
ERP is the most evidence-based treatment for OCD. Gently and at your pace, we practice facing the thoughts and situations that trigger the doubt while resisting the compulsion meant to neutralize it — which teaches your brain that the anxiety passes on its own. I never rush it, and we go only as fast as you can tolerate.
Can Danielle help with health anxiety or chronic illness?
Yes. I work with health anxiety and with the emotional toll of chronic illness — something I also understand from personal experience — alongside OCD and generalized anxiety.
What does a first session with Danielle look like?
Mostly understanding what's been happening, with no pressure to do anything hard yet. I want to understand your experience first; the exposure work only begins once it feels safe and makes sense to you.
How will I know if therapy with Danielle is helping?
Often it's a ritual that loosens its grip, a place you can go again, or a what-if you can let pass without answering it. I won't promise a timeline, but you'll have a clear sense of what we're working toward.