I’m scared of the exposures I’m going to be asked to do with NOCD therapy.

When I first started ERP with an NOCD therapist my OCD actually got worse but that is normal. I would spend half the day crying because of the distress from the practice exposures. I only have 2 sessions left and I feel stronger than I have ever been in my entire life!!

Don’t be! Honestly sometimes they’re even kinda fun. You both got this !

You start w easier exposures and work your way up to the more difficult ones. My OCD is most prevalent when I’m in romantic relationships. I feel guilty for everything I do or say or think. I feel bad if I even could’ve technically lied. And so confessions were my compulsion. Some of my exposures included reading articles where women were keeping deep secrets from their partners. Some other ones were telling white lies to my friends. Writing scripts. Wearing certain clothes or things that might provoke guilt. Of course the exposures get harder as you work your way up the ladder. But reading articles/doing exposures with my therapist or completing the homework shed give me and reporting back w how it went was the “fun” part. I can only think of one exposure that made me emotional. Of course everyone is different and I do have other OCD subtypes I worked on that don’t have to do w relationships or romantic partners.

Nick, have you made your heirarchy yet? Part of the reason you make it is so that you can titratethe levels of anxiety that you will experience. As you do the lower levels of the heirarchy, your ability to tolerate the anxiety and fear will increase, so the things at the top will be tolerable. Keepin mind that this is YOUR therapy. Although ERP is definitely going to make you uncomfortable, you have a big say in how fast it progresses, how scary the exposures, etc.

Me too😣