Michaela Hagerty-Koller LMHC

My practice is on average made up of between 30-50% of clients with OCD and/or OC Related Disorders. The remainder is almost entirely clients presenting with other presentations of anxiety disorders–including generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, social anxiety, and health anxiety. I also work frequently with teens who struggle with high levels of perfectionism, creating impairment in their academic, social, and family lives. For all clients, I utilize exposure-based interventions to encourage clients to engage in measurable behavior changes throughout the course of therapy.

I completed my practicum training at Seattle Children’s Hospital’s OCD Intensive Outpatient Program, working with children and families to help reduce their OCD symptoms through extensive exposure and response prevention interventions. I additionally completed my post-Master’s fellowship with the Evidence Based Treatment Center of Seattle, specializing in treating childhood anxiety disorders. Currently, as a member of The Bellevue Center for CBT & DBT, I participate in weekly consultations and didactic trainings that focus specifically on cognitive behavioral interventions for OCD and other related disorders.

I make it a priority to incorporate anti-racist and intersectional feminist lenses into my work as a clinician. I believe that working with individuals with OCD and/or anxiety disorders requires an awareness of the environment and structures that the individual exists within (ex. Does this fear come from a history of trauma? Is this fear consistent with the experience of systemic oppression?). I work with clients of all racial backgrounds, religious backgrounds, gender presentations, and sexual orientations. I align with a client’s values to help them understand how OCD may be getting in their way, without changing their core identities.

I am always actively seeking new ways to practice cultural competency within my work. This could be through seeking multi-cultural training, reading materials that increase my understanding of the experiences of those in marginalized groups (both within and outside of clinical settings), and learning from my clients who hold different identities than my own.