formyfuture
- Date posted
- 2y
erp by yourself
has anybody been working on doing ERP therapy alone without a therapist? has it worked for you? i’m attempting to do it alone but it is soooo hard. any tips would be wonderful as well :)
Mr. Solo DoloMr. Solo Dolo
- Date posted
- 2y
Yeah I have to do it alone in between sessions, it’s gets easier.
totallyanxiousalwaystotallyanxio...
- Date posted
- 2y
For the past year since I’ve learned about ERP I’ve been doing it on my own. Too scared to ask to see a therapist or get a diagnosis just yet. Some tips I can absolutely give are to keep going! There are some self help OCD books you can buy. I don’t have any but there are some :) just push yourself and remember after the bad there is always good. ERP doesn’t immediately make it better, it takes time and a want to keep going. Do not fall into the trap of “oh god I’m not worried about this!” That’s OCD about OCD. Keep ERP’ing it and don’t avoid things out of fears. I believe in you
JPT1988JPT1988
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 2y
I do one session every morning. Part of my routine. Def gets easier. :)
VGHVGH
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 2y
Yes, I have had therapy, but I still work on ERP everyday. LOL, it is really just my life. There are things that trigger me (the exposure) and then I practice the response prevention. I don't ruminate, check, reassurance seek etc. I allow time to pass, I am willing to be uncertain. So, at this point, it is not a specific time set aside for an ERP exercise, but, for example, I know later today I have to pick up a prescription from the pharmacy. There was a time where I would ruminate about this, and then after I picked it up there would be a lot of checking compulsions. So right now, I'm not ruminating, I'm doing things I value, I hopped on here to see if I could contribute anything, I am heading to the gym, etc. I allow and am willing to have uncertainty. A really great book that helped me was "Needing to Know for Sure" by Seif and Winston https://a.co/d/8Hi7oHs Hope this helps! Take care, and it's great that you are working on ERP!
CatinaboxCatinabox
- Date posted
- 2y
Ye, I don’t have a therapist, or even a proper diagnoses yet, and so I’ve been trying to do ERP on my own but it’s so so hard
formyfutureformyfuture
- Date posted
- 2y
@Catinabox i believe in you, we can do this together. you have the potential to be so great and although i don’t know you, i know you are a kind and loving person who has good intentions. you are not your thoughts and i believe in you.
CatinaboxCatinabox
- Date posted
- 2y
@formyfuture Thanks, that means a lot
blazedblazed
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 2y
At first I started doing it by myself, which did help and kept me afloat for a while. Now that I’ve been doing it with a therapist, I’ve made progress a lot faster - but mostly bc I had a specific structure to follow. Outside of my sessions I did ERP 5+ times a day for about 4 weeks which reduced my symptoms significantly. Then I decreased it to 1-3 times per day. Don’t go as hard as I did bc it can get extremely overwhelming, but the most important thing is to stay consistent. So doing it just once a day for 10 minutes can make all the difference. Don’t be discouraged if you have some setbacks along the way, it’s totally normal and you’ll gain more confidence in your abilities to get through it. Also check out the Mindfulness Workbook for OCD by Jon Hershfield, it gave me a new perspective and hopefully you’ll find it insightful too! You got this, keep going!
Related posts
Kinjared
- Date posted
- 19w
ERP THERAPY BY MYSELF
It could be possible to treat a severe scrupulosity OCD without taking medication and asking guidance from the psychiatrist? I can't afford for professional consultation 🥹. Can anybody give me some advices on how to deal with these intrusive thoughts? 🙏
fl5
- Date posted
- 18w
Is self recovery possible at all?
I don't have an official OCD diagnosis, although I am near enough certain I have it after a long year of distressing intrusive thoughts and compulsions that have strongly affected my life. Unfortunately though, I do not have the opportunity or the finances to get checked or go to therapy for a good few months at least. Due to this, I have taken it upon myself to teach myself techniques to tackle it and to reduce and not engage in compulsions, as I did not want to take the risk of getting even worse before being able to get help (and desperation lol). For the first time in the past year I feel like I'm finally making some progress in getting better since incorporating these techniques into my life as my symptoms have become more manageable (minus the obvious bad days) at the time being. Is self-recovery actually possible? Has anyone managed to recover without a therapist's help?
Anonymous 25#
- Date posted
- 14w
Anyone?
Hey everyone it’s been a while since I posted on here. Honestly, I try to stay off of this app unless I really need advice because I find it triggering at times. But right now I’m feeling pretty down and just would like some hopeful and helpful advice. Has anyone ever felt like they’re just not capable of getting out of this? Has anyone ever felt like ERP therapy isn’t working or that they just can’t get it’s a click? . I’ve been in ERP therapy for over a year just about a year and a half actually and I literally feel so stagnant and stuck still. I show up every week I do my exposures, but my body is in such a chronic fight or fight all the time that it feels almost impossible to apply the tools. I’m super sensitive to begin with and I feel things very deeply and because of that it feels like I’m not gonna be able to ever change. It feels like no matter what I do or experience I’m just gonna always feel it so deeply and it’s gonna just rattle me all of the time. I’m honestly so frustrated. I’m tired and I’m overwhelmed. I so badly wanna change these patterns that I have and grow and be out of this OCD spiral, but everything just feels impossible. I’m just wondering if I’m alone here?? Has anyone ever felt this way? Has ERP taken a long time for anyone else or am I the only one that just can’t get my brain to click with it? Any encouraging and helpful words would be greatly appreciated thank you 🙏
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond