Sometimes it feels like therapy is pointless. I like my therapist and she’s ocd specialized, but she always tells me things I already know. Sometimes it feels like nothing will actually help bc I feel like I know what I need to know but that doesn’t change how I feel

I consider a good therapist to be a great coach. Michael Jordan knew everything about the game of basketball, but he still had Phil Jackson. When I started therapy, I had read virtually every well-known book about OCD and had watched/listened to hundreds of hours of content about it, too. Still, it wasn’t until I started therapy that someone could motivate me and keep me focused on what I actually had to do to get better. I could understand something intellectually all I wanted, but it wasn’t until someone had me take action that I saw any improvement. I’d guess you know what to do, but are struggling to implement it.

i think therapists are there to just guide us through erp and make sure we stick with it/are supported through it. there aren’t a ton of “new” things they could tell us but they just help remind us of what’s true as we try to heal through erp. but i think if you’re feeling this way it’s always a good thing to discuss with your therapist!!

I wonder how she would respond if you gave her this feedback... Many therapists love it when clients communicate what is and isn't helpful. They want to help and feedback allows them to adjust they're interventions to be more effective

Maybe she just tries to remind you the things you should be doing in order to recover. Sometimes I forget the right things to do. Plus she is there to accompany you and be there with you through your recovery.

Thank you guys for your responses :)

I second what Katie said. I had a conversation with my therapist once when I felt like things weren’t helping and he adjusted what he was doing and it helped a lot.

I struggle with this as well. She tells me basic advice that I already know, for example "Allow the thoughts to be there, don't react to them with compulsions". However, there's no structure when it comes to creating a plan that I can incorporate into every day life. I've asked her to help me with this and she says she will, but never does. It's like she forgets things I've told her I want to work on. This is a NOCD therapist by the way. Its really disheartening when a therapist doesn't take the time to know your specific obsessions & compulsions, and help guide you on a plan to overcome them step-by-step.

+1 on communication with your therapist, she may well have some other ideas for things which might be helpful. If you feel that you know how to do it but you just can't bring yourself to treat it, therapy can be especially beneficial for exploring core beliefs (a common thread across your themes which may be something like "I'm in danger" or "I'm a bad person" or "I can't control myself" or "I can't trust myself"). The core beliefs do tend to have a basis in your personal past so exploring them and working on reprocessing traumas/reframing past incidents can be really useful. Ultimately, as they say, OCD is not really about the content, it's always tackled the same way once you break it down into triggers, thoughts and compulsions. From what I can tell, hiccups usually appear where those things haven't been successfully identified or there is a very strong fear preventing you from feeling that it could be safe to do treatment to turn an OCD theme into a worry which has no illusion of control. Thankfully, the fear is usually based in black and white, catastrophic thinking which can be helped a LOT with CBT to give you more courage and resilience. ACT can help a bunch too with developing a value framework to live by which doesn't include time spent obsessing. Put it together, what have you got? Past, present and future. Bibbity bobbitty boo.