Living with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can feel like being trapped in a cycle of intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. It's a relentless struggle that impacts every aspect of life. Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy for OCD continues...
I'm excited to announce the launch of a new companion website: OCDSupportGroups.com! This site is designed to be a resource for individuals and families affected by OCD and other severe anxiety disorders including social anxiety and panic disorder. It expands...
So this post is a bit different than my regular posts... Rather than discussing a specific aspect about OCD or anxiety, this post is a request for your assistance in completing an exposure. Here's the background... I have a patient with scrupulosity (religious OCD)...
What: OCD Scriptathon 2017, A Group Scripting Experience Where: Our office! Located at 11380 Prosperity Farms Road, Ste 209A, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 When: Tuesday, April 11, 2017 from 8:00 PM - Until It Ends If you've ever practiced imaginal exposure,...
These are difficult times. Lately, it seems, each week brings with it something truly horrifying. A shooting or an act of terrorism, a hate crime committed against an individual, a disease that affects the unborn. You can hardly turn on the news without hearing about...
In previous posts, I have discussed various aspects of the "OCD Cycle," but it never hurts to have a quick refresher. After all, understanding how OCD works can help you see through its lies and help mobilize you to stand up and challenge it. What is OCD, and how does...
It's ERP tip time. This series of posts focuses on tips to enhance the effectiveness of your exposure and response prevention (ERP). If you're interested in more ERP tips, click the following link for all the posts in this series. Exposure and Response Prevention...
Long shower times? Just a quick announcement... I'm pleased to announce that with our recent office renovations, we now have a spa-like therapeutic shower room that is perfect for individuals with contamination OCD who have excessively long shower times. This room is...
Starting today, I am going to start posting random ERP tips as they occur to me, as there are certain roadblocks that many of my OCD patients tend to encounter. If it's helpful for my patients, maybe it's helpful for you. If you're interested in more ERP tips, click...
As I've talked about in numerous posts, overcoming OCD involves learning to co-exist with doubt and uncertainty. This idea can be a bit counter-intuitive at first, as many people initially expect OCD treatment to reduce uncertainty. One therapeutic approach that helps...
People new to OCD treatment often walk through the door with more than a few misconceptions. Here are some common ones: Misconception 1: Anxiety is bad. Actually, anxiety is a normal, functional, biologically-based phenomenon that every person is capable of...
OCD Treatment Group! I am pleased to announce the availability of our new exposure and response prevention (ERP)-based treatment group. The intent of this group is to provide a supportive environment for completing ERPs. Participants wishing to attend are required to...
Anxiety, Worry, & What If Questions If you have anxiety, it's likely that you wrestle with worry and "what if" questions. Many what if questions are easily recognizable and start with the obvious, "What if...?" Others are more subtle and begin with phrases like...
Question: I have scrupulosity (religious/moral obsessive-compulsive disorder), and I am triggered by religious posts on Facebook. When I see a religious post, I feel like I have to repost it or God will be mad at me. I also worry about what other people think about...
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is just like a fitness program for your brain. However, instead of shaking up your fitness level, it's designed to shake up stubborn OCD symptoms. Let's expand on this analogy. Reasons for...
For anyone new to exposure-based therapy, such as exposure and response prevention (ERP), there is often much anticipatory anxiety about starting treatment. "What is it? What will it be like? How bad will it be? Can I handle it? Will I be forced to do things I'm...
Question: I have sensorimotor OCD, and I’m suffering from conscious swallowing. My main fear is that I'll choke or swallow my own saliva whenever I'm speaking or singing. Any tips for how to tackle this fear via exposure and response prevention (ERP)? Great question....
Question: I'm a teenager and keep having OCD symptoms related to impulse control. I often worry that I'll lose control and scream or blurt out obscenities. I am especially triggered in quiet public places like classrooms, churches, and movie theaters. I have never...
Anxiety Principle of the Day: Non-Avoidance is not equivalent to exposure. Although exposure is predicated upon the purposeful non-avoidance of anxiety-related stimuli, non-avoidance of anxiety triggers is not equivalent to exposure. What is non-avoidance? I liken...
Question: I know about ERP, and I understand that OCD symptoms can be reduced by resisting rituals and then habituating to the anxiety brought on by obsessive thoughts. However...what if an obsessional thought requires no ritual? Confused! Great question. I think that...
Many people have an incomplete understanding of exposure therapy... ...be it exposure and response prevention (ERP) for OCD, intentional mistake practice for social anxiety, or interoceptive exposures for panic disorder... This is true for exposure newbies, seasoned...
Reader Question: For the past year, I have been dealing with OCD-related sensorimotor obsessions focused on swallowing. My symptoms started during a class discussion in which I noticed myself swallow. Since then, whenever I am in a lecture or quiet place surrounded by...
This post is the last in a series of posts discussing body-focused obsessions and compulsions (aka, sensorimotor, somatosensory, or somatic obsessions and compulsions) in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This series was inspired by an original article written by...
Question: To what extent would a change of mindset (e.g., changing my expectations for myself) be helpful in recovering from OCD? What is likely to happen if I delay formal treatment with a psychologist and work instead on changing my own mindset? OCD Treatment...
Question: Because many of my OCD rituals are related to my professional identity, I'm worried that changing my rituals will somehow change those parts of me that I like (e.g., my personal goals and ambitions). Should I be concerned about this? Early Onset OCD in Kids...
Everyone I know has, at some point, had to deal with the monster under the bed. Some do it with grace. Others falter. I've always been clumsy. I can vividly recall many terrified nights from my childhood, when I would lie rigidly in my bed, utterly paralyzed by fear....
"Pure-O" OCD, or Pure Obsessional OCD, is a relatively less common form of OCD that seemingly differs from classic presentations of the illness. What distinguishes Pure Obsessional OCD from classic OCD is that in Pure-O OCD, symptoms are predominantly obsessive...
How does ERP work? What mechanism underlies it? Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are disturbing thoughts, images, or impulses that increase feelings of anxiety. Compulsions (also known as "rituals") are...
Here's a question for you: Is exposure and response prevention (ERP) fundamentally a destructive or constructive process? I think that many people naturally conceptualize it as more of the former than the latter. They conceive of ERP as being the process by which we...
What is exposure and response prevention (ERP) for OCD? As any good psychologist experienced in treating OCD can tell you, the most effective treatment for OCD is exposure and ritual prevention (ERP). You may also see this type of therapy referred to as exposure and...
OCD isn't just about anxiety. Although anxiety is certainly a prominent feature of the disorder, clinicians who only attend to anxious symptoms can easily overlook some of its other core features. As a psychologist in Palm Beach, Florida, I work closely with kids,...
Many individuals with OCD hunger for certainty. It's a craving that often can't be easily sated. Early conceptions of OCD from the 19th century acknowledged this issue directly, in that OCD was often termed the "doubting disease." It is this need for certainty, the...
Symptoms of OCD are everywhere. Turn on your television, and you're likely to catch at least a fleeting glimpse of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Many popular TV shows feature characters with OCD (e.g., Emma on Glee, Monk), and it is through this lens that many...
