Sometimes when we’re attempting ERP, or just going about our daily lives, we can feel very anxious or panicky or distressed, and have the urge to engage in compulsions to try to make ourselves feel better. Here is a breathing exercise that can use instead, that helps calm anxiety, panic and distress. Calming Breathing Technique […]
Category: OCD
Physical and Body Sensations and Anxiety
One of the most distressing aspects of feeling anxious can be the physiological, physical or body sensations that accompany anxiety. Whenever we notice these sensations, our anxiety tends to increase. And just like with the emotion anxiety, the best way to respond to the physiological aspect of anxiety is with acceptance. Not because we like […]
Distress Tolerance Strategies
Compulsions are also driven by feelings of distress. But if we can learn more effective ways to manage distress, then we can stop relying on compulsive behaviors and mental rituals. Distress Tolerance Strategies Transcription This transcription was auto-generated by YouTube. I’ve only added minimal editing, so I apologize for any errors, run-on sentences, etc. Distress […]
Mindfulness and Acceptance of Emotions
With OCD, are obsessions cause anxiety or discomfort that we find difficult to tolerate. We then engage in compulsive behaviors or mental rituals in order to manage our anxiety or discomfort. But if we can learn better ways to manage and regulate our emotions and how we feel, then we no longer need to rely […]
Exposure Therapy
This video describes exposure therapy in general, which is the basis for ERP. It goes into more detail about how exposure works then we covered in the ERP video. It can be helpful for understanding ERP, but you can also just skip it without missing out on much. Exposure Therapy for Anxiety Transcription This transcription […]
Reduce Obsessions with a Worry Record
When we’re anxious and worrying, we tend to: worry bad things will happen worry over “what if” hypothetical negative outcomes overestimate the likelihood something bad will happen overestimate how bad things will be, and focus on the worst case scenario underestimate our ability to cope if something bad does happen The worry record is a […]
Modifying Obsessive Thoughts
OCD is associated with obsessive anxious thoughts in which we overestimate the likelihood and and exaggerate the severity of potential negative consequences or outcomes. Cognitive restructuring helps us modify our thoughts to make them more accurate and realistic, which in turn reduces our anxiety. The video below covers anxiety in general, but includes concepts that […]
Mindfulness of Sounds and Thoughts
It can be difficult to stay mindful of our thoughts. When we try to pay attention to our thoughts, our thoughts often carry our minds away. And this is the opposite of mindfulness. The Mindfulness of Sounds and Thoughts exercise mentioned in the previous video is a guided meditation that leads us through a few […]
Mindfulness of Thoughts
This videos overlaps a little with the last two, and goes in to how we can be mindful of our thoughts in a little more detail. Mindfulness of Thoughts Transcription This transcription was auto-generated by YouTube. I’ve only added minimal editing, so I apologize for any errors, run-on sentences, etc. My first video on mindfulness […]
Obsessions and Cognitive Defusion
Cognitive defusion is a key concept from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). When we practice cognitive defusion, we let go of our thoughts without allowing ourselves to become “fused” with them. Or, if we’re already stuck in our heads and “fused” with our thoughts, cognitive defusion helps us de-fuse. Cognitive defusion is a great antidote […]