The conversations we have in OCD therapy can stick with us for years, changing the ways we see ourselves and our mental health. Sometimes it's because this is where we finally feel affirmed or comforted. Other times it's because it’s where we’re challenged to shift our perspective. What’s the most helpful thing your OCD therapist has ever said to you?
You can’t logic your way out of OCD you have to feel your way out!
@_maliahclay Can you explain what they meant by that?
@Anonymous For me, it meant that OCD always wants one more answer, one more reassurance, and one more “what if.” No amount of logic fully satisfies it. If we could logic our way out of OCD, we’d all already be cured. So instead of constantly trying to figure everything out, I’m learning how to sit with the discomfort and uncertainty without doing compulsions or needing immediate certainty.
thank you for this.
Just because you feel guilty doesn’t mean you are guilty.
Certainty does not exist
Me:” exposures are just so hard” Therapist: “ so is living with OCD”
“You want to piss OCD off” I.e. passively going along with the intrusions even if it doesn’t resonate so then it has nothing left to work with since you’re not fighting it
"If you live for the appraisal of others, you die for the appraisal of others."
don’t let OCD take the wheel. imagine that i’m the one in control of the wheel and OCD is just a crying baby in the backseat. can be annoying, but they’ll cry themselves tired eventually
Just coming here to read other responses
Having OCD is like a kid trying to scream something at you simply to redirect your attention — it’s always something that bothers you the most so you feel like you have to think about it. It helped me realize that just because the thoughts feel loud and urgent, that doesn’t make them more important. Still a struggle, though.
At some point we want to get to a place where we don’t have to stop what we don’t start.
@Nightwing98 My head hurts contemplating this.
@achvs Hahaha not having to stop mental compulsions that don’t even start 😂 not worded well on my end.
@Nightwing98 I think it’s worded perfectly. So many things you hear 100 times but never do because if it was that easy, nobody would suffer from it. I have had a week of exposures and I am exhausted. I am finally seeing a light at the end of this tunnel. I think it is possible to to “not start”. It’s possible to take a beat and ask a question and then make a choice… compulsions could be choices given enough practice. Practice teaches us that it’s actually just as painful or more painful because once it starts, the spiral seems to speed up. If I can disengage before the spinning starts, then I will be in recovery. I like defining goals. Especially for the mental compulsions.
Possibility does not mean probable !
That ocd is a liar
The safest place you can be is in the here and now. Not looking back or forward.
She told me OCD tries to solve our obsession. It’s not until we realize we can live with uncertainty that we’re free. This was what I needed to hear my whole life
Your best will look different everyday😊
@kortliz Love this ❤️
“Battling ocd thoughts can sometimes feel like trying not to scratch an itchy mosquito bite. But you can resist the urge.” The simile was very helpful in reframing how I think about tackling my OCD themes.
I’ve never had one sadly
Embrace uncertainty!
People do not care nor do they think about you This has really helped!!
You can’t judge your recovery based on your feelings.
My hook phrase is “I don’t have to know”
"You're not that powerful."
“Bring it on, OCD!” “You don’t have to like or enjoy everything. It’s okay to have preferences and just not like certain things.” “You need to accept that part of yourself.”
She ask me if I wanted to hurt myself or anyone else
That is a choice
@Anonymous That ODC is a made up thing. This hit me like a ton of bricks!
It wasn’t a therapist….it was an “Eagles” song , Learn to be still.
I don't have to prove or disprove the thought
“If your alive you need to be actively living” - my old talk therapist
Every choice is tinged with regret. Meaning there is no perfect decision
She kinda helped me realize I reassure myself a lot more than I once thought... I always had assumed reassurance for myself just looked like "I can't do it!" or "you got this!" .. it seems to find ways to work itself into my life without me even realizing sometimes
that i should have trust in myself
"you cant help others if you dont have your mask on if the plane is going down."
that it’s not me talking to myself, but a different voice completely, so it’s not my responsibility
@zig_zag This is another mind blowing idea that could be really helpful. I have been trying to figure out how to create a boundary between ocd and me… so that it describes symptoms that I experience but not who I am. Labeling the voice OCD bully might be the boundary to free myself from feeling responsible for everything.
Is anyone here a current or past patient? Do you still have access to the groups? They don't take my insurance since it changed. I miss the groups and friends I made. I think the groups are better than the therapists. Too bad they don't keep you in the groups.
Let's practice becoming more accurate about recognizing actual risk. Also: Work with your brain, not against it.
You don't have to listen to the thoughts!
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
