You got this !

@sixseven I’m so happy for you! I have been in talk therapy for years & am in school to be a counselor and it genuinely has helped me more than anything ever has. - Learning to set with the discomfort sucks. BUT the discomfort is worth the end result of how quiet my mind is now. - i’m SO proud of you

@chanalexxa I started therapy a week ago and i want to know how did it work for you. For me being exposed to my fears has really made me uncomfortable. Can you please elaborate more on it

@Anonymous The whole purpose of ERP is the exposure. Meaning they will expose you to things that causes your anxiety to rise and you will sit with it. Even if it’s reading something, they will have you read it and make you sit with it and the process repeats. Sometimes people fail but the good thing is you tried and that’s what attacks ocd. Is the trying process until it gets better, like rumination sit with maybe 5 minutes and the process repeats until you don’t feel that anxiety and until you don’t care about it. It gets bad then it gets good, I recommend a therapist that also attacks if you have any trauma so you can get to the root work of where your ocd steams from.

@Anonymous of course ! i feel like due to my previous counseling i was able to take that knowledge and apply it to help calm myself down with the discomfort. - The first few sessions, and the exposures were very hard because I was having fears of losing my boyfriend. Everything seemed like a sign, and real. Watching and reading articles about things that triggered me made me SO uncomfortable. Although, it’s still not my favorite thing, my brain is so much quieter now. I feel like I have power over my brain for the first time ever. - It is uncomfortable and that sucks, but the discomfort is worth it !!!

@Anonymous I appreciate it, i feel that anxiety especially because i deal with harm ocd and it gets so stressful. How can i know if my therapist know how to do root work?

@Anonymous I actually think this app only offers ERP find anywhere in your State that takes your insurance, see if they also specialize in ocd too, I live in Texas I found one that offers therapy, a psychiatrist, and group therapy I also have a case worker and a facilitator. Amazing people, I’m talking about childhood trauma and adult trauma while also doing ERP in group therapy. I also deal with harm ocd, I was assaulted at work and my ocd flared. If you also live in Texas I’ll gladly give you the place I went to. You could also ask on here just to make sure, but I would recommend both especially with severe OCD that’s not getting better with medication. I was doing medication and ERP it gotten worse lol but I’m sure it’s because I wasn’t getting down to the root cause of what’s making my ocd worse and causing panic attacks and several attempts.

@Anonymous i’m also in texas and i see sommer phillips for my sessions. - I have done a lot of outside therapy too to address my anxiety / ptsd / trauma. - however, these therapist are all still licensed - erp is their speciality, but they can help point you to colleagues if additional therapy is needed!!

@Anonymous if it makes you feel better i am dealing with horrible harm ocd rn too. It started about 4 weeks ago and I have had the thought in my mind pretty much every second ever since. I even went on vacation and it was still always on my mind. something that calms me down is knowing that these thoughts and images make me anxious and fearful which means i don’t align with them🩷