I’m confused an a bit angry. I met with a new therapist today and my insurance hasn’t allowed me to get someone who understands pure O and who is knowledgeable about ERP. This woman was a CBT and told me that wheneve I have an intrusive thought to deny it and tell myself that I’m a good person and to reassure myself. I tried to explain that that in itself is a compulsion for people at Pure O but she kept coming back to it. My gut is telling me she’s wrong because the times I was panicking And would try to rationalize it like she told me to the thoughts would only get worse. I told her that I used to be worried about harming people and have been listening to podcasts about serial killers as an exposure and how it’s working and I’m not having a problem with it anymore and she told me to take a break from that as if it was unhealthy. I told her I’d appreciate it to research ERP as a I left, and was willing to give her another chance but as soon as I told my parents about what she said they flipped out on me and told me I’m being picky and am unopen to options other than ERP. Am I being crazy or picky ??? I’m so confused

You should use the recording button on the app during your exposures to let out how you feel. Sometimes saying how your feeling out loud helps

@WorriedDriver I agree with you that it’s worth it but for someone like me I just simply can’t afford an extra $400 a month to pay for it. It’s unfortunate that it’s so hard to get sufficient help for OCD if you don’t have the means to pay for it. With a lot of other mental conditions, people are able to get sufficient help more easily than for this disorder. It’s very frustrating when you are ready, willing, and needing to get help but not able to. I feel it needs to become more accessible.

You know what works for you so you should tell her that

This therapist is misguiding you because she doesn’t understand how OCD works. Denying the intrusive thought and reassuring yourself is 100% incorrect of what you should do when you have OCD. You need someone who at the very least understands ERP because this is how OCD is treated. I don’t think you necessarily need someone who has experience with pure O specifically because pure O generally has mental compulsions so it will be treated the same way. Worst case — have you tried doing exposure therapy on your own, with the help of this app?

Hi Pineapple yes I’ve been doing exposures for some of my obsessions on my own by some are just too troubling for me and I was hoping to find a therapist who could help me with the anxiety and shame I experience on account of my OCD. I wanted to make sure my exposures were done properly me because some of them are just too upsetting for me

I literally had to call every therapist in my city to find someone that had experience in treating OCD. Only one was taking new patients. She doesn’t take insurance. I decided it was worth it ($100/session) because if ERP is done properly, it doesn’t have to be done forever.

Honestly I know that I talk about The OCD Stories podcast a lot, but really I’m learning a lot from it and they interview expert psychologists on OCD that I could only dream of being treated by. I also have bought a couple workbooks for OCD. Thus far I’m liking the one by Jonathan Abrahamowitz the best. I am making my own binder of good articles I get for free online. I feel your pain in how difficult it is to get treatment.