Hi, I’m Sara
Psychologist in Valencia and online, specialising in OCD
I help you understand what’s happening to you and find your way out of obsessions, anxiety or whatever is weighing on you right now. In person, by video call or in a group.
- Terapia en español
- Therapy in English
- Thérapie en français
PhD in PsychologySpecialist in OCD and Inference-Based CBT.
If you have OCD, this is for you…
Your obsession feels real, but it starts with a “what if…?”
Inference-Based CBT (I-CBT) comes from a cognitive model designed specifically to treat OCD. It helps you trust your senses again and put the obsession back where it belongs: in your imagination.
I specialised in I-CBT years ago, and I still fully trust how effective it is at treating OCD and bringing about real change.
OCD therapyWhat if you didn’t have to do it alone?
New therapy groups, in person and online
Listening to other people who are going through the same thing as you can help a lot.
OCD
Health anxiety
Anxiety
Eating
How can I help you?
Individual, couples and family therapy.
- OCD
- Health anxiety
- Anxiety and panic
- Social anxiety
- Depression
- Grief
- Self-esteem
- Relationship problems
- Jealousy
- Eating disorders
- Addictions
- Anger and irritability
- Social skills
- Sexuality
Who’s on the other side?
After graduating in Pharmacy and realising it wasn’t my path, I started studying Psychology. I then completed a PhD specialising in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) while seeing patients in my practice.
Today I collaborate occasionally with the university and devote myself fully to my practice and to various projects.
More about meSomething to read slowly
From the blog
More than 80 articles written from the therapy room, to help us understand what we go through.
- OCD and obsessions
- Anxiety and stress
- Emotions and wellbeing
- Relationships and family
- Trauma and dissociation
- Personality
- Asperger’s and neurodiversity
- Mind, brain and medication
- Going to therapy
OCD and obsessionsWhy does my obsession feel so real?
The OCD story is the inner narrative that makes an obsession believable. What it is, how to spot it and how I-CBT works with it in therapy.
Relationships and familyHow a Broken Heart Heals
After a break-up, some habits keep reopening the wound: staying in touch, blaming everything on them or on yourself, isolating. How to let your heart heal.
Emotions and wellbeingKintsugi
A ficus that survived a parasite and the Japanese art of mending with gold: why, after overcoming a problem, you're not the same but stronger.
Scientific publications
Research on OCD published with the University of Valencia.
- 2022
The relationship between obsessions and the self: Feared and actual self-descriptions in a clinical obsessive–compulsive disorder sample
In 58 patients with OCD, it examined how they see themselves and who they fear becoming: two in three believed their obsessions said something about who they are and brought them closer to the person they don't want to be, far more than with their ordinary intrusive thoughts.
Read the publication - 2021
Is context a crucial factor in distinguishing between intrusions and obsessions in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder?
It interviewed 68 patients with OCD about their most upsetting obsession and intrusive thought: both began in similar contexts, but once the obsession is established, the context in which it appears is what sets it apart from a mere intrusion.
Read the publication - 2020
Spanish version of the Inferential Confusion Questionnaire-Expanded Version: Further support for the role of inferential confusion in obsessive–compulsive symptoms
It adapted into Spanish a questionnaire measuring inferential confusion (trusting what might be over what the senses show) in 342 people from the general population and 66 patients with OCD: it proved reliable and supports the role of this confusion in OCD.
Read the publication - 2020
Contexto, sí mismo y narrativas en el trastorno obsesivo compulsivo: cuando lo que podría ser importa más que lo que es
It compared obsessions and intrusive thoughts in the same people with OCD in terms of their context, their link to how people see themselves and the story they build around them, showing that these factors help explain why a thought turns into an obsession.
Read the publication - 2019
Validation of the Spanish version of the Fear of Self Questionnaire
It validated in Spanish a questionnaire on the fear of being or becoming a dreaded kind of person: it showed excellent reliability, and that fear predicted obsessive symptoms and beliefs, especially unacceptable obsessions.
Read the publication
Questions I’m often asked
Can I have therapy with you in English or French?
Yes. I offer therapy in English, Spanish and French, both online and at my practice in Valencia.
How long is a session?
Sessions last one hour, both in person and online.
How do I know if what I have is OCD?
If you have thoughts that keep coming back, cause you a lot of anxiety and make you feel you have to do something to calm them (checking, washing, going over things, asking for reassurance), it’s worth assessing. We look at it in the first session.
How do the therapy groups work?
They are small groups organised by condition (OCD, health anxiety, anxiety, eating), in person in Valencia or online. Places are very limited, so get in touch to find out when the next one starts.
Where is the practice?
At Gran Vía de Ramón y Cajal, 37, door 40, 46007 Valencia, Spain. I see clients Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 20:00 (CET).
Shall we take the first step?
Get in touch
Call me, message me on WhatsApp or send me an email and I’ll explain how to get started.
- Phone and WhatsApp+34 691 12 10 16
- Emailsllorens@cop.es
- PracticeGran Vía de Ramón y Cajal, 37, pta. 40 · 46007 Valencia · View on Google Maps
- HoursMonday to Friday, 9:00 to 20:00 (CET)
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