When Discipline Works Everywhere Except Inside Your Head
High standards without self-punishment. Discipline without turning yourself into the enemy.
10 years of clinical experience · Free 15-minute consultation · Private pay and select insurance plans accepted
Felix Murad, LPC-S · Licensed by the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council
Felix Murad, M.Ed., LPC-S, LMHC, CMHC, NCC
My approach is friendly, collaborative, and practical. We’ll have open conversations about what’s happening, explore what keeps it going, and decide on a treatment plan together. You’ll always know what we’re aiming for and why. Throughout your care, you’ll work closely with me every step of the way.
Sessions are held via video for adults in the states listed above. If you are unsure whether telehealth fits your situation, the consultation is the place to ask.
People often believe that their distress is caused by the obsession itself. As a result, they may stop the obvious physical compulsions but forget that their mind is still engaged in reviewing, checking, analyzing, reassuring, or seeking certainty.
This week, pay attention to how your mind responds when OCD insists on needing certainty.
Areas of Specialization
OCD Therapy
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), based on Inhibitory Learning theory, offers compassionate support for those dealing with OCD, intrusive thoughts, religious and moral scrupulosity, and taboo thoughts. It’s designed to help individuals understand and manage these challenges with understanding and care.
Anxiety & Panic
CBT and ACT are supportive therapies designed to help with generalized anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety, health anxiety, and ongoing worries. They focus on understanding and addressing the root causes of anxiety, rather than just alleviating symptoms.
Trauma-Informed Therapy
We offer EMDR, Cognitive Processing Therapy, and Prolonged Exposure to help with trauma. We tailor treatment to how the trauma affects your life today, rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach.
BFRB Treatment
Habit Reversal Training and the ComB model for skin picking, hair pulling, nail biting, cheek biting, and other body-focused repetitive behaviors.
Related Conditions
OCD, anxiety, trauma, and body-focused repetitive behaviors often co-occur with other concerns. When planning treatment, I consider all clinically relevant conditions, rather than focusing solely on symptoms.
Mood Disorders
Tic disorders
ADHD, anxiety, trauma-related symptoms, and other conditions that may affect treatment
Built Around the Work
There’s truly no perfect time to begin therapy. Some folks find support early, while others prefer to wait years, often after trying to handle things on their own or finishing previous therapy that addressed some issues but not everything. No matter where you are in your journey, I’m here to support you. My approach is all about helping you understand what might be keeping the problem going, why I recommend a certain method, and how we’ll see if it’s working for you.
The frequency and length of treatment are tailored to your individual needs, goals, and progress, along with the specific approach we’re using. Rest assured, our work together is always centered on providing high-quality, evidence-based care to support you best.
What to Expect From Therapy
Consultation Call
Enjoy a free 15-minute call to ask questions, share concerns, and get honest feedback about whether this practice is right for you—no strings attached. Remember, it’s not therapy.
Intake and Assessment
The first two sessions help us understand the situation, what’s maintaining it, and what has or hasn’t worked. With that, we collaborate to develop a clear treatment plan, with my recommendations shaping it.
Structured Treatment
Adopt an active, goal-focused approach using an evidence-based model tailored to your presentation. Regularly check progress toward your specific clinical goals to ensure everything stays on course.
Treatment Starts With What Keeps You Stuck.
OCD and anxiety therapy isn’t one-size-fits-all; it follows the mechanism. ERP may be key for OCD, but not all issues should be treated as OCD. Treatment is tailored to what sustains the problem, what’s practical, and the individual.
Start by learning more about your condition
All treatment plans are personalized to the individual.
OCD and Anxiety Therapy with ERP, CBT, and ACT
Intrusive thoughts, checking, reassurance, and avoidance, with a body that treats uncertainty as danger. What keeps it going is the loop: the alarm fires, a ritual or an escape ends the experiment early, and the prediction survives untested. Treatment uses Exposure and Response Prevention grounded in inhibitory learning, with CBT and ACT for anxiety and panic, aimed at feared predictions, body alarm, and safety behaviors rather than the feeling alone.
Trauma and PTSD Therapy with EMDR, CPT, or Prolonged Exposure
You may function well on the outside while past experiences still shape your reactions, relationships, and sense of safety. What keeps trauma present is a nervous system that never finished filing the memory, so reminders land as threat. EMDR, Cognitive Processing Therapy, or Prolonged Exposure is chosen to fit how the trauma is functioning now, and paced around stability, consent, and what you can hold without flooding.
BFRB Treatment with Habit Reversal Training and the ComB Model
Skin picking, hair pulling, nail biting, and cheek biting that feel automatic, often unnoticed until the damage is done. What maintains them is a behavior sequence: triggers, urges, sensory payoff, and environments that make the behavior easy. Habit Reversal Training and the ComB model target that sequence with awareness training, competing responses, and changes to the settings where picking or pulling happens, with ACT for the urges themselves.
Not sure which one fits? The consultation helps determine that. Fees and insurance are covered below.
Clear Fees. Straight Answers.
Private-pay sessions are $200. Select insurance plans are also accepted. Explore the payment options below before scheduling.
Free Consultation
$0 · 15 minutes by phone
A brief call to discuss what brings you to therapy, ask questions, and review fit, scheduling, and payment options. This is not a therapy session, and there is no obligation to begin treatment.
Private-Pay Therapy
$200 per 60-minute session
Individual therapy tailored to your needs. Review payment details and information about out-of-network reimbursement on the fees page.
Select Insurance Accepted
Cost depends on your benefits
I accept select insurance plans, including UnitedHealthcare, Anthem, and Aetna. I use Headway for insurance verification and billing.
Check your coverage and estimated cost for sessions with me.
Opens Headway. Estimates are not a guarantee of coverage or final cost. Some plans require additional verification.
Superbills for possible out-of-network reimbursement are explained on the fees page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not Ready to Reach Out Yet? Start Here.
Understanding what is happening can make the next step easier. These guides explore common concerns I treat and explain how evidence-based treatment approaches them.
Do I Need an OCD Specialist?
Not every anxious person needs a specialist. How to tell when intrusive thoughts and rituals call for ERP-trained care, and what to look for when you choose.
Trauma or Anxiety: When Your Body Reacts Before You Know Why
A tone of voice, a smell, a door closing too hard, and your body is already three steps ahead. How trauma responses and anxiety differ, and why the difference shapes treatment.
Does Emetophobia Treatment Make You Vomit?
No. Why inducing vomiting is unnecessary and counterproductive, what exposure-based treatment does instead, and how to tell a competent clinician from an incompetent one.
Start With a Brief Consultation
There’s no need to worry about figuring out which treatment is best before you reach out. The consultation is a warm, friendly chat designed to help clarify what’s happening, see if this practice feels right for you, and explore your next steps together. Want to know what the call covers? See Preparing for Your Consultation.
Prefer to ask a question first? Visit the Contact page.