- Date posted
- 3y
- Date posted
- 3y
Familiarize yourself with ACT.
- Date posted
- 3y
Ok
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- 3y
@Anonymous Thanks for responding.
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- 3y
@Anonymous Of course
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 3y
I think coming into exposure therapy with a willingness to do the hard work is a great way to prepare. Exposure work is intended to increase the anxiety around your intrusive thoughts, but eventually anxiety will start to come down the more you practice exposures. The good news is you won’t be alone, you will have your ERP therapist along side you! NOCD also offers many support groups and other resources. I would recommend using as many of these resources as you can!
- Date posted
- 3y
First of all, congratulations on starting this journey. Even just thinking about it is a big step and shows your OCD that you're not messing around! :) 1. Know that your NOCD therapist is not going to be fazed by anything you say. OCD comes up with *all kinds* of things and your therapist has heard them all (or at least enough to not be shocked haha). 2. Remember that you will go at your pace. Your therapist's job is to help YOU create your path to recovery. You will not do any exposures until you're ready (and by the time you get to your "hardest exposures" they won't be as bad anymore... that's how it works!). 3. Trust the process. My therapist told me that ERP doesn't typically make OCD worse at the beginning, but you will be intentionally doing things to trigger your distress. The cool thing is that when you do that, you're also intentionally sitting with the discomfort and watching/waiting for it to subside. And again, never to an overwhelming point. Your therapist is trained to help you get familiar with it first and follow your pace. I hope this helps. I know it is so scary, and I also know that you're capable to do this! The fact that you're here says so much. Keep going!
Related posts
- Date posted
- 25w
My NOCD therapist (who has been awesome) and I are both struggling to identify ways in which I can practice exposure therapy while in-session, because the vast majority of my OCD symptoms are mental compulsions. For example: indecision and inability to commit to a choice; seeking reassurance on decisions from friends and family; mental review of things that have just happened / social situations; over-thinking and catastrophizing. I also have some other hallmark symptoms (contamination fears, moral scrupulosity, etc) but those tend to be inconsistent too. It’s hard to really practice these during my sessions because so many are in the moment and fleeting. By the time I join my session they are no longer active. How can we establish exposure responses during my sessions, if most of my OCD involves mental rumination and overthinking patterns/thought loops that only occur “in the moments - rather than specific or consistent compulsions (such as hand washing)?
- Date posted
- 18w
This is my first time posting - I have a fear of throw up and I’ve been told it is cause from my OCD (repetitive thoughts) which makes sense because if someone gets sick it replays over and over again and I can’t get it out of my head. It’s gotten a lot worse in the past maybe two years. I’m always on edge that someone is going to get sick around me. I’ve heard the “best or most common” way to help with this is exposure therapy and OBVIOUSLY I don’t want to do that. Anyone have any tips or anything for this (or maybe have done the exposure therapy)?
- Date posted
- 15w
One problem - Various themes This is my first post. I had a relapse a few months ago. Life was amazing and then boom, I got triggered by something and started spiralling about my sexuality (having finally been at peace for two years, entered a healthy new relationship and come out of the closet as an older women). How do you, when you're not triggered practice ERP? I'm able to try and accept the thoughts every time I see a man. What should I be doing when I don't encounter these triggers. I was to say as well that I also am starting to get real event OCD about some of the sexual things I did in the past when I was married and in an unhealthy toxic relationship with my ex husband. I am shamed and disgusted and I'm working on it but there's a certain subsection of the LGBTQ community that trigger these thoughts, groinals and thing for me... I feel like I'm beginning to realise I need to maybe be a little more active in my recovery instead of waiting for triggers... But I don't know how
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