Inference-Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, also known as I-CBT, is an evidence-based treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). It is an alternative to Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). Unlike ERP, I-CBT does not include exposure work. I am trained in ERP but focus more on I-CBT in my practice. If you are experiencing OCD and looking for help in Winnipeg, welcome.

Interference-Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy was developed by Kieron O’Connor and Frederick Aardema. The premise of I-CBT is that the distress in OCD is maintained by doubt and a faulty reasoning process. This reasoning process takes a person away from reality and into a state where they are absorbed by their imagination as they think about what could happen or what might have happened. This reasoning process happens so quickly that it goes unnoticed but results in significant anxiety and distress. Common responses to this anxiety include avoidance, reassurance-seeking, and/or rumination. These responses are called compulsions and they can alleviate anxiety in the moment but that relief does not last. Here is that process in visual form:

I-CBT helps clients identify and understand this reasoning process so they are able to respond to the “what if” questions when they arise, preventing the rest of the sequence and anxiety response from occurring. 

 “ICBT focuses on how obsessional doubt is constructed — through imagination and reasoning errors that disconnect you from direct reality. Once you see this clearly, the fear begins to lose its hold. You don’t have to white-knuckle your way through. You just have to recognize that the alarm was false all along.” 1

 I first received training in Inference-Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in 2022 and have obtained additional training since then. I have a particular interest in the intersection between PTSD and OCD. I participate in a bi-weekly consultation group that focuses on helping clients with these co-occurring presentations: EMDR and I-CBT to treat the impact of trauma and OCD, respectively. 

 If you are looking for I-CBT treatment in Winnipeg, you have come to the right place.

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1 Frederick Aardema, The Doubt Illusion: A Compact Guide to Overcome OCD with Inference-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, (Montreal: Mount Royal Publishing, 2025), 10. Kindle Edition.

For more information on I-CBT see: Kieron O’Connor and Frederick Aardema, Clinician’s Handbook for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, (West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012).