I talked to my therapist today, and she mentioned how my compulsion was to obsess over certain things, because if i dont obsess over them then they'll come true etc. I never thought about it that way. She hasn't recommended doing any exposure for my obsessions yet which I find interesting cause she does do erp, so I'm curious as to where she's going with all this. She's helped me a lot so far, so I trust her. Should I be worried though?

^ also you need to know what you're trying to control by doi g the compulsions. I have the exact same thing with my main themes, fears of not obsessing because they feel more likely to come true and catch me off guard if I don't spend my time dwelling on them. But there could be other things you're trying to control via compulsions which can point your therapist towards what exactly the areas are in which you find uncertainty extremely unsettling. That helps to create a hierarchy, and can indicate core beliefs and core fears which can be worked on in other ways. For example, I feel responsibility for things which aren't my responsibility, because I want to control other people from being able to blame me for stuff- if I take all the blame on purpose and try to own it, then other people can't make me feel blameworthy with their words. This is also reflected in a tendency I have to tell other people that they can blame stuff on me if they need to (like, "just say it was my idea"). This points to sensitivity to blameworthiness stemming from being gaslighted and used as a scapegoat in my childhood environment, which can be worked on with other trauma processing methods AND gives a sense of what kind of exposures are most likely to trigger me a lot, so they can be worked up to.

@Scoggy Well we talked about a treatment plan and I mentioned erp and I couldn't really understand what she was saying. I'll have to ask her about it again. What she did tell me is that we dont have control over the thoughts into our heads, but we so control how long we stay on that thought, and how much attention we give it because by doing that we build a strong connection with the thoughts. I dont know what to make of that, though, because I cant just let the thoughts go.

@worryqueen She's exactly right, that's how OCD with mental compulsions work. You can't prevent having a memory, topic, worrying idea, painful feeling etc pop up in your mind. I know it feels automatic right now but it is within your power to notice that an obsession topic or potential obsession topic has popped into your awareness, and choose not to immediately start ruminating on it and analysing it. Those are your mental compulsions. She's talking about ERP. Learning to notice your impulse to ruminate and analyse and mindfully decide not to follow it no matter how uncomfortable it is to not do so, is the correct response prevention. Does that make sense for you?

@worryqueen Response prevention is more important than exposure. Exposures sound, and are, scary to do, but the first step is to get on top of how we respond to triggers in daily life and getting familiar with our personal go-to compulsions. I really recommend googling and looking at lists and stories of mental compulsions, so you can identify them as what they are. I know they just feel like the way you are, but there is a whole other way to be once you're mindfully choosing not to engage in those habits. Exposures and hierarchies are good for exposing you to extremely triggering situations and processing the anxiety caused by those without doing compulsions, so that you can feel prepared for very triggering situations and thus feel more resilient to live your life the way you want to.

@Scoggy That does make more sense to me now, thank you for explaining it! She said that she thinks I have a compulsion to obsess over a thought because if I dont it'll come true. How would response prevention work for that? I'll definitely read up more to try and identify my triggers and compulsions!

@worryqueen Response prevention is what I said :) Exposures would be the idea that they're going to happen. All OCD is the same thing :)