welcome to the all the hard things blog

One of the most common questions I get is “what are some good exposures for ___ OCD?” People really resonate with the subtypes of OCD, like contamination OCD, relationship OCD, sexual orientation OCD, pure O, and the list goes on and on. While subtypes exist to provide basic clinical information and to establish a sense of community for those who have this condition, identifying too strongly with the subtypes can lead to oversimplification of this disorder and its treatment.

As cliche as it sounds, every single person comes with their own uniqueness and nuances that cannot be simply explained away by identification of a subtype of OCD theme. The fact of the matter is that two people could very much resonate with a term like relationship OCD, yet have completely different triggers, rituals, obsessions, and therefore, completely different sets of exposures, different styles of response prevention that will be needed, and therefore, a different treatment plan.

In this episode, I discuss one of the recurring questions that I hear so many of my patients and followers asking. This also happens to be the one question I wish people wouldn’t ask themselves during OCD and anxiety recovery. This question tends to be a distraction, an avoidance, and a broken compass on your treatment […]