How do you know whether you are doing exposure right? I mean I can resist obsessions at a point and continue to do my work no matter what thoughts my OCD brings (when I am doing this, trust me, the OCD brings even more thoughts to persuade me into thinking it all out). But, it feels like I have left something important (usually life or death) questions unanswered and unsettled. Then, at sometime later, my mind will start to try figuring the unanswered question out, cuz the fear is never really root out. So, I guess exposure is more than just ignore the thoughts and doing what we should do despite all the discomfort. When your fear is there, it’s a human instinct to go back and check. The fear and belief are the core. Not sure I express myself clearly.

It sounds like you have problem solving compulsions. I have plenty of those. And “what if I miss something?” obsessions. I can relate because I think during treatment I am going to get hung up on finding the “perfect” exposure...But we have to just do it.

I have a hard time doing the ERP on my own for that same reason. How do I know if I did it right. But that alone is obsession. ?

an*

@CrazyCatlady I remember Mark Freeman who has recovered from OCD and become a mental health advocate said “don’t do ERP in your own.” That’s a problem for me. I don’t have any therapist available. Now I am considering therapy via Skype. But not sure whether it works. Still confused about how ERP works.

@serena yes!! I’ve also watched him. Also Katie D’Ath. I was working with the Reeds center for 45minutes each session, 4 times a week. They told me I need more intense program like a residential program at McCleans or Rogers. Unfortunately my insurance doesn’t cover out of state programs and what I liked about the Reeds center was that they were able to come to me as most of my compulsions happen at home. But now I’m stuck in bed again so I have to start all over and do things myself. ? Before the Reeds center I had another ERP specialist and he and I did Skype sessions before I was able to leave my apartment. In ERP, you write down all your fears, obsessions and compulsions. Then you rate each one by how intense they are. They’re called SUD levels. It’s a scale from 0-100. 100 being the most intense. Then you do what’s easiest for you to face first. So for example if you have a contamination fear you would touch a doorknob and not wash your hands for five minutes. This might be a level 20 (which is a good place to start) for you and in the beginning after you touch the doorknob your anxiety level may go up as high as 80. As you sit with the anxiety-try not to avoid/distract/or do mental compulsions until the anxiety level falls down on its own. Try to do it multiple times a day. It’ll help if you write down your compulsion and your anxiety level before and after your ERP. Once the anxiety is down to a 5 or a 10, move onto something more challenging. The thing about ERP is that a good specialist will teach you how to be your own therapist. To create your own hierarchy. But in the beginning it is hard to do it alone. I hope that helped.