How does one activl 'practice' exposure therapy ?

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

Ocidokie

Date posted: 12w

It's so so positive that you decided to actively try to become better. Maybe it is because you saw that there is a life outthere. Maybe this is becoming better, one step at a time. I will tell you what I try to do now: I try exposure mostly when I feel triggered. It is difficult BUT necessary, I do it however loosely supervised by my psychiatrist. During a relapse we divide the thing I am avoiding in smaller parts, for example if I can't go to the supermarket, I will first pass by for some days, then I will get in for some minutes etc etc. I don't know if it goes like this or if it works for everyone. But it is helpful (and difficult, OK 😂). Let us know if you get any help, how it goes, how are you etc etc. Be around -you are not alone. It gets better.

OutstandingC...

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 11w

You basically just have to seek the triggers out! Some small ways are by writing out a triggering scenario or imagining the scenario in your heard. Other ways can include looking things up online or going to physical places to encounter the triggers.

Anonymous

Date posted: 11w

Hi monkeybrain, when there is no trigger it's a scheduled practice daily of putting yourself in similar yet safe experiences. It doesn't have to be full blown trigger, just some discomfort. Such as saying out loud the thought, and pause, no debating, no coping, no moving around, no making justification of any side, no persuading, and just feel. If there's no discomfort the next level is looking at a conventionally attractive photo and do the same thing, next is going out and about and if you come across anyone male (no interaction just glancing at him) and there's discomfort because you wonder if you like him, same actions. It's the way kids may feel infatuated to their teachers until they process their emotions or gain new memories to identify their emotions that oh, it's not love or that kind of attraction, it's admiration or infatuation or man do I got daddy issues. It didn't require someone telling the child how to act and feel, it was a slow progress of time and experiencing other parts of life to treat the thought or fantasy is just a thought but the real action is wanting to play at the monkey bars more. Hopefully that gives some ideas, ERP really helps with a therapist to tailor scripts or core issue so it gives an exercise plan that is balanced in discomfort without it being too overwhelming or confusing to you.

Anon56

Date posted: 25w

What are your best dialogues against ocd thoughts

I have HOCD, as female who identified as straight until before hocd hit me. Now if I state my orientation it would be a compulsion. I keep watching wlw, lesbians scenes, bisexual women dating reels, and stuff, and it scares me. I do that for erp and whenever I see it I become very sad. Like some problem to be solved, like something that won't let me be happy at all. I focus on the anxiety, but it's so hard to not get involved in the compulsions, most of the times I have absolute control, other times I fall weak . I have periods where I don't have those thoughts about women and it feels so liberating, so safe to be in my own skin. OCD makes me doubt everything and I wish to depart from this body and mind and inhabit another, with a clearer mindset, a clear non ocd brain. I hate this. I have read so much about my disease, did my research by reading books by well known coaches in the ocd community, and there are times I still wonder if it is ocd. The therapist I went to was actually horrible and she told me it was not ocd, and I should try to be straight and that women kissing was just something born out of curiosity and lack of options. How primitive. She also said that I didn't think like a lesbian/ gay because she "knew what the lesbians and gays were going through when they came to her". I was better off not going to her. I wonder at times if I act on groinals with no consequent shame, It would mean that I enjoy it. However from the first day of research I had concluded that groinals mean nothing. Loved watching wlw as much as bls, but had never associated myself with it. My next fear is being around someone who is experimenting and I keep having thoughts like maybe I would love to experiment and what if I ended up liking it? It's so tiring. What words, and things did you try as erp ? Also how advisable is it to interact with the thoughts beyond "maybe yes maybe no"? Please do share if you have some advice on this part :)

Sexual Orientation OCD

anxietypoops

Date posted: 22w

The RP in ERP

Hi! I've been on my OCD healing journey for about half a year and I have seen a lot of success. I'm reaching out for advice, I am very willing to do exposures because I know the more I do them, the more I get better, but I struggle with the response prevention part. I don't know how to control my brain when it comes to facing the fears especially since most of my compulsions are mental. I can tell myself the typical things "I am okay with the uncertainty of this happening", etc. but its like my brain doesn't believe them. I've been stuck in this disconnect for a while and would love advice you have heard from a therapist or learned that has really help you.

thatusername...

Date posted: 22w

How do I practice exposure for mental compulsions?

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)?

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How does one activl 'practice' exposure therapy ?

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