Virtual Anxiety and OCD Therapy for Adults in IL, MD, VA and DC | Empowered Path

You already have the strength within you. I'm here to guide, support, and educate you, helping you reclaim control, so anxiety no longer controls your life. Together, we’ll empower you to live the life you want and become the person you aspire to be.

I am Samantha Rouette (Acevedo), LCSW, and I provide highly specialized virtual therapy for adults struggling with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC.

If your mind constantly throws out intrusive thoughts, worst-case scenarios, or urges you cannot seem to ignore, you are not broken.
Your brain has simply learned to treat uncertainty and discomfort as danger, and therefore it keeps pulling you into a cycle of fear and avoidance.

Anxiety was designed to protect you.
At the same time, when anxiety and OCD take over, the brain misfires and begins labeling everyday thoughts, feelings, and situations as threats.

That is exhausting.
And it can quietly shrink your life.

You are not failing at anxiety.
You are stuck in a pattern.

Many of my clients come to therapy saying:

"I cannot turn my brain off."
"I keep checking, avoiding, or replaying things in my head."
"I know it does not make sense, but my body reacts like it is an emergency."
"I feel trapped in fight or flight."

This is not a motivation problem.
This is a nervous system and learning problem.

Therefore, willpower alone will not fix it.

How Therapy With Me is Different

I help clients learn how to respond differently to:

intrusive thoughts
physical anxiety sensations
urges to check, avoid, reassure, or control
the inner voice that constantly demands certainty

Instead of trying to eliminate fear, we change your relationship to it.

Together, you will learn how to stop obeying anxiety and OCD, even when discomfort is present, because freedom does not come from feeling safe first.
It comes from learning how to move forward while your brain is uncomfortable.

That is how the wires actually get uncrossed.

What you can expect

You will gain practical tools to:

break the cycle of compulsions and mental rituals
tolerate uncertainty without spiraling
reduce avoidance and regain independence
respond to anxiety with skill instead of fear

At the same time, you will be supported, encouraged, and coached through doing the hard things that actually lead to change.

I will be honest with you.
This work is challenging.
But it is also extremely effective when done correctly.

Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs)

Treatment for skin picking and hair pulling using behavioral and acceptance-based strategies to interrupt the relief cycle and regain control.

Hoarding Disorder

Skills-based therapy to break the cycle of panic, chronic worry, and fear-driven behaviors so anxiety no longer controls your daily life.

CBT for Anxiety and OCD

Structured, skills-based therapy to change unhelpful thinking patterns and reduce avoidance and safety behaviors that keep anxiety and OCD in control.

ACT for Anxiety and OCD

Helps you change your relationship with intrusive thoughts and uncomfortable feelings so you can move toward what matters, even when anxiety shows up

OCD Treatment (ERP-Based)

Specialized treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder using Exposure and Response Prevention to reduce compulsions, avoidance, and mental rituals.

Panic and Anxiety Disorders

Skills-based therapy to break the cycle of panic, chronic worry, and fear-driven behaviors so anxiety no longer controls your daily life.

Phobias and Specific Fears

Targeted exposure-based treatment for fears such as flying, driving, vomiting, heights, and insects to help you safely face what anxiety has taken from you.

Agoraphobia and Avoidance

Support for fear of public places, travel, and situations that feel hard to escape, with a structured plan to rebuild independence.

Services

Treatment

Empowered Path specializes in the treatment of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) using evidence-based, gold-standard approaches including Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

I place a strong emphasis on using treatments that are proven to work for anxiety and OCD, because these conditions require a very different approach than traditional talk therapy.

I have seen firsthand that when ERP, CBT, and ACT are applied correctly, they are highly effective at reducing symptoms in a shorter and more focused period of time.
This is because these approaches teach you how to respond differently to fear, intrusive thoughts, and discomfort, therefore giving you the confidence and skills to take back control from anxiety and OCD.

Treatment with Empowered Path is not intended to be indefinite.

The goal of therapy is to empower you to build the skills you need to manage symptoms that interfere with living a life aligned with what truly matters to you.

ERP, CBT, and ACT work by helping you develop a new relationship with your internal voice, uncomfortable emotions, and the behaviors that keep anxiety and OCD in control.

Most importantly, these behavioral approaches honor that you are doing the best you can with the tools you currently have, while at the same time helping you identify what is most important to you so your values, not anxiety, can guide your choices.

Because your life deserves to be driven by what matters to you, not by fear.

Contact Us

By exploring this page, you have already taken the first step to tackling your OCD and anxiety - I am proud of you! When you are ready to start improving your lifestyle and get back to living the life you want (or dream about), I will walk you through that empowering journey one step at a time. Contact me today for a free 15-minute consultation.

At this time I currently only provide therapy virtually through a HIPPA compliant platform to individuals over 18 residing in Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, and DC.

Info@Empoweredpathpllc.com

847-804-6801