my therapist recommended i write down an anxiety producing thought and then write a rational counter-statement to that thought. the thing is i fear that wont that only fuel my OCD? i asked my therapist this and they said that i should still try it because i have to teach myself to believe rational thoughts. what should i do? a lot of what i learned about OCD is to not give it power or attention but wont this give it attention?

So I’m starting therapy this week but I’ve been trying to use ERP myself, my main compulsion is rumination which I wasn’t even aware was a compulsion. I’m trying to do ERP but when I focus on observing the thought it goes, I dunno if I’m focusing too much on actually how to follow ERP or is this normal? I feel like I might be subconsciously blocking thoughts because I know how bad it is when I go down the rabbit hole, but then I also worry that the anxiety goes too quickly and that I’m finding it too easy to ignore the thought?

I am feeling conflicted when it comes to treatment and would like some advice. I suffer from Pure O, and all of my compulsions are in the form of rumination. If my therapist tells me to ‘lean in’ to the thoughts and even dissect and think about that thought/worry more - is this not akin to telling someone with contamination OCD to mindfully wash their hands? The initial microsecond thought is the normal human thoughts everyone gets - that’s normal and can’t be stopped, the rabbit hole ruminating that follows is technically analytical thinking therefor it should be able to be stopped. Does this resonate with anyone and has anyone experienced similar? I’m definitely experiencing some OCD around treatment and my therapist (am I doing this right etc) but I also feel my question is valid and I want to ensure I am following the right treatment path. Thank you!

One for the therapists or those that have done ERP or followed some of the advice on here.... If the best way to deal with the intrusive thought is to not give it certainty and to say "that might happen, who knows?" then surely you're fuelling the thought which is going to heighten anxiety levels? For example if you have POCD and have a thought such as "What if I think sexual thoughts about that child?" and you sit with the thought saying to yourself "I might do, I might not" surely that's going to make you ruminate on it and we're told rumination is wrong. Or another example "I'm going to hurt myself later" and then thinking "maybe I will, I don't know" you're just going to make yourself worse? If there's a chance that thought is gonna come true it's make you feel worse surely? Please tell me if I'm wrong and I've got the wrong end of the stick here but it's been playing on my mind. Surely it's better to ignore the thought the entirely or just observe it as if to say haha yeah OK keep trying to tell me that, that's ridiculous. Advice and thoughts appreciated.