What Our Patients Say
R. H.
26 Dec 2018
E.S.
14 Jun 2019
“Staying at the NBI Ranch was very rewarding. This immersive experience pushed me outside of my comfort zone during a time when I was feeling very "stuck". The therapists went above and beyond and I was challenged in new ways. My life changed for the better, plain and simple. I am so happy now.”
M.T.
02 Apr 2020
“At some point over the last decade I lost count of the number of times that I had lived out of my truck, because of my debilitating anxiety and OCD, but I do know that the last time I did so was during the Fall of 2015. When I arrived at the Neurobehavioral Institute that October I was not a functional adult human being, but the excellent care I received at the hands of NBI’s skilled and experienced practitioners made a real difference. It has now been two years of hard work, but I haven’t gone back to the living in my vehicle. Instead I entered medical school where, inspired by NBI’s exceptional staff, I hope to prepare for a career in mental health as a psychiatrist.”
“I’m currently a thriving writer/director/producer in Los Angeles AND the National Spokesperson for the International OCD Foundation. 6 years ago, I was 32, 100lbs lighter trapped in a twin size bed in my parents’ house paralyzed by my own thoughts. And that was just the culmination of 30+ years living with OCD. There are absolutely no words to describe how grateful I am to NBI for literally saving my life. After 25 years of therapists and doctors giving me false hope and bad therapy, the team at NBI took my case without hesitation, went above and beyond for me and my family, and would not accept anything less than seeing me through to a healthy life. And they did just that!”
L.B.
8 Feb 2019
"The NBI ranch was a positive place. The counselors and clinicians were great, everyone was very kind and caring. I have to admit I was scared at first but once I began therapy it was easy. I feel like I've matured much more than before and I have slowed down my life pace to make time for myself."
E.M.
21 Jul 2018
"I was immediately impressed by the nature of the staff and their ability to easily and successfully meet my changing needs. NBI offers very good, quality treatment in a safe and supportive environment that propelled me to make major steps towards healing. This was one of those times in life where I knew recovery was absolutely necessary for my overall health and personal growth."
M.L.
28 Aug 2017
R.T.
15 Mar 2017
"NBI Ranch was amazing. I definitely hit a personal rock bottom and after going to the ranch, I feel like my rock bottom is the new floor for me, and anything after this will be just a bonus. I learned so much about myself and who I am as a person. The therapists really pushed me to reach that next level of recovery and they did their best to see me succeed. I drove away from there a better person with more hope than when I arrived."
“Since I can remember (age 5), I’ve had OCD. As a kid, I had severe separation anxiety from my mother. I was fearful she would get in a car accident and die. So I would count for hours to make the anxiety better. I felt that counting from 1-10……and then from 10-1 would somehow save my mother from a car accident and anything terrible happening to her. I would also tap things to prevent bad things from happening. I would tap the table 3 times with my left hand, next I would tap the same table with my right hand 3 times. Tapping and touch things was a constant thing I would do to try and control things. But in reality, I was letting my “ocd thoughts” trick my brain into believing I needed to perform these actions to keep people safe. I lived with OCD for 38 years before getting the proper treatment. After the birth of my son, my OCD got even stronger. I remember the nurses handing him to me. My anxiety had peaked as I feared the nurse would contaminate my son with germs. After that point it was all downhill. I would not allow anybody to touch him unless they used Purell, but it was still very scary for me. When we got home, I bought rubber gloves, stocked my house with Purell, masks and Clorox cleaners. The next 2 1/2 years I spent my days and nights worrying about people getting sick and giving it to my son. I, myself, could not touch my son for the first 3 years of his life. I wore a mask to feed him, had my rubber gloves on and washed my hands excessively to the point my skin was cracking and bleeding. I stayed in my house for 2 years because the fear of germs, even the common cold, scared me. I remember holding my breath as I walked to the mailbox for fear of germs in the air that would make me sick. I reached out for help at NBI, it was March 16. I’ll never forget the date! I finally found doctors who understood me and my thoughts. I had felt so alone, helpless and scared. After meeting Dr Moritz I was at ease, she and the other doctors at NBI were all trained in the treatment of OCD. How lucky was I to have found them? I had the proper treatment, ERP which was difficult at first, but so effective for OCD. Oh, by the way I was a teacher for 10 years before the birth of my son. I had to stop teaching because I couldn’t walk into a classroom full of kids that may be sick and expose me. So I avoided. OCD took away my love for teaching and being with children. For the last few years I have worked very hard to learn skills to fight OCD. I have many skills that I use on a daily basis. Since starting treatment in 2010, I’ve been able to travel to NYC, California, Chicago, Atlanta and many more fun places. My son is 10 years old now. I am able to touch him without using gloves or masks! I’m also going back to being a teacher this fall! I’m able to go places with my family, travel, go back to teaching, and most importantly be a good mom and wife. An important value in my life is to be a good mom and wife. Im able to do that now. I try not to be to hard on myself. I try and use self compassion but it’s taken a very long time for me to do this. NBI and the doctors have saved my life and have given me the tools to be a good mom and have a good marriage, while fighting OCD. Here are 2 quotes that I really like and the NBI doctors are the authors! “You are NOT OCD, you have OCD but you are XXXX, NOT OCD” “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how you felt, what matters is what you did” I hope this has helped at least one person, I want to give back to the OCD community and give people hope. NBI has given me HOPE and helped me get my life back!”
K.B.
30 October 2016
“NBI has changed my life and I am so grateful to Dr. Moritz, Dr. Bechor and the entire NBI team. Before coming to NBI, I was spending my days locked in my room doing nothing but cleaning and showering over and over until it felt just right. Before coming to NBI, I let OCD run my life...I would miss meals and skip taking my medicine because I was so absorbed in the vicious cycle of completing rituals. I let OCD get in the way of relationships and I let it also take my freedom from me. Before treatment, I could not be in the same room as raw meat or chicken being prepared and now, I am able to cook a meal start to finish with much less worry as i simply wash my hands after handling the raw protein. I used to freak out over raw eggs and sought reassurance that everything was cleaned up properly; these days, I crack an egg and may not even wash my hands. Before NBI, I was spending hours a day in the shower and easily took eight showers a day; however, I have reduced my showers to once a day. I was addicted to Lysol, Febreze, and hand sanitizer as I went through multiple bottles a day, but I’ve learned that these products were a fix in the moment, but ultimately using all these cleaners so much was reinforcing OCD; I learned that the magical cleaning power my OCD gave to these products was just a lie and I am fine without them. I used to have to shower after going to the bathroom and i had a bunch of shower rituals; now it doesn’t even cross my mind to shower after the bathroom and my shower rituals have greatly reduced. Also, my hand washing has improved, I no longer stay at the sink and use half a bottle of soap washing until it feels just right. Instead, I do “happy birthday” washes. I have made leaps and bounds in combating my contamination fears; however, another major accomplishment is that I took back my freedom. Before NBI, I was so reliant on others because I refused to use my cane; however, since starting my journey at NBI I have come to accept that I am legally blind, and I use my cane every day and get around by myself. I’m leaving NBI a better, more confident version of myself. I never believed beating OCD was possible, but thanks to the outstanding, super supportive clinicians it is and I’m very proud to say I have kicked your ass OCD!! Thanks a million, NBI, this place is absolutely life changing!!”