The OCD Stories

In episode 510 I chat with Dr Steven Poskar. Steven is a psychiatrist and clinical director of OCD NYC. He is also a member of the Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board of the International OCD Foundation. We discuss his therapy journey, myths and misconceptions around OCD medication, SSRIs for OCD, choosing an SSRI based on their side effect profiles, weaning off medication, augmenting medicatio...

In episode 509 I chat with Ian O'Brien. Ian is a psychotherapist based in Dublin, Ireland, who specialises in OCD. We discuss his OCD story including relationship OCD (rOCD) and pOCD, getting therapy, support groups, and becoming a therapist. We then discuss his research on why people struggle to engage with ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) in which he analysed over 100 interviews from The O...

In episode 508 I chat with Michael Stier. Michael is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) and Director of Education and Training at the Anxiety Specialists of Atlanta. We discuss his therapy story, working with health anxiety, the health anxiety book he co-wrote, what is health anxiety, insight in health anxiety, bodily sensations, values based living, and much more. Hope it helps. Sh...

In episode 507 I chat with Chrissie Hodges. Chrissie is a Peer Support specialist, founder of OCD Gamechangers, and Author of 'Pure OCD: The Invisible Side of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder'. Chrissie was awarded the hero award at the 24th IOCDF conference in San Fran. We discuss her community, acceptance and radical acceptance, what is acceptance, what are we actually accepting, what acceptance is...

In episode 506 I chat with Dr Sam Greenblatt. Sam is a licensed clinical psychologist.  We discuss an update on him, relationship OCD (ROCD) using his personal story as a case study, improving ROCD treatment, exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), internal family systems (IFS) therapy, working with other emotions around ROCD, feeling emotions without analysing them, improving relationship...

In episode 505 I chat with Dr Fahad Khan. Fahad is a licensed clinical psychologist. He currently serves as the Deputy Director at Khalil Center, providing psychological services while supervising clinical and research work. He co-wrote The Islamic Workbook for Religious OCD: A Guide for Overcoming Intrusive Thoughts and Compulsions. We discuss his therapy story, waswasa, compulsive prayer, helpin...

In episode 504 I chat with Jack who has kindly agreed to share his OCD story with us.  We discuss his OCD story, guilt and shame, diet and exercise as part of OCD, an eating disorder diagnosis, exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), medication, support groups, being creative, expressing through poetry, the idea of signal vs noise, self compassion, he reads some of his poetry, and much mor...

In episode 503 I chat with Samantha Faden and Dr Jenifer Cullen. Samantha is autistic and has lived experience with OCD. Sam is the client of Dr Cullen. Jenifer M. Cullen, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist at the McLean OCD Institute. We discuss their therapy relationship as therapist and client, how Sam's therapy journey has gone, what worked, how they learned together over time, getting a...

In episode 502 I chat with Christopher Weston. Chris is a therapist (LMFT) specialising in OCD. We discuss his OCD story, his early life experiences that were challenging, panic attacks, somatic/sensorimotor OCD, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and much more. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/chris...

In episode 501 I chat with Alexandra Reynolds. Alexandra is an OCD Advocate, Community Support Group Leader at NOCD, and is currently doing her graduate clinical training.  We discuss her health anxiety story, stigma around the diagnosis, running her health anxiety support group, shame and guilt around having health anxiety and the compulsions, experiencing stigma or judgement from family and heal...

In episode 500 I, Stuart Ralph, reflect on my journey with The OCD Stories podcast over the last nearly 10 years. To do this I took a hike in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales, UK. Thanks for listening over the last 500 episodes! Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/500 The podcast is made possible by NOCD . NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside...

In episode 499 I chat with Dr Ronald Nicholson. Ron is a clinical psychologist currently practicing as a post-doctoral fellow at Dr. Steven Phillipson's Center of Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy. We discuss humour in OCD therapy, why humour can help, finding the right balance between humour and seriousness, humour as a way of showing irrelevance, Dr Phillipson asks a few questions including wha...

In episode 498 psychotherapist Jonny Say interviews Stuart. Stuart is the host and founder of The OCD Stories podcast. Stuart is a psychotherapist, and co-founder of The Integrative Centre for OCD Therapy. In the build up to episode 500 Jonny interviews me (Stuart), we discuss the history of the podcast and some of my personal history, how the podcast helped me in the early days and which topics o...

In episode 497 I chat with Dr Steven Phillipson. Steven is a licensed clinical psychologist who specialises in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for OCD. Steven is the Clinical Director at the Center for Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy in New York.  We discuss identity contamination as a theme of OCD, the amygdala, not buying into OCD themes, talking about OCD with people, Dr Phillipson's Cancel Tok...

In episode 496 I chat with Riley who has kindly agreed to share her OCD story with us. We discuss how OCD latched on to her sport (swimming), compulsive exercise, her different compulsions, obsessions around being strong, getting therapy, restricting foods, residential treatment, medication, finding joy in activities again, words of hope, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdsto...

In episode 495 I chat with Gina Abbondante. Gina is a psychotherapist and clinical director at Change of Mind counselling. We discuss her OCD story, panic disorder - having a panic attack as early as kindergarten, blood injection injury phobia, when OCD started, suicidal themed OCD, exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), inference-based CBT (CBT), working with postpartum and postnatal par...

In episode 494 I chat with Clare who has kindly agreed to share her OCD story with us. We discuss intrusive thoughts, harm themed OCD, skin picking, her family, exposure and response prevention therapy, her research, words of hope, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/clare-494 Thanks to our podcast partners NOCD who make this podcast possible . NOCD offers e...

In episode 493 I chat with Braden Smith who has kindly agreed to share his OCD story with us. Braden is a offensive tackle for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). We discuss his OCD story, religious scrupulosity OCD, how OCD affected his professional career as an NFL athlete, how OCD focused on his faith, using psychedelic treatments, exposure and response prevention ther...

In episode 492 I chat with Sheva Rajaee. Sheva is a psychotherapist who specialises in the treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and other related anxiety disorders. She is the founder of the Center for Anxiety and OCD (CAOCD). Sheva authored the book Relationship OCD: A CBT-Based Guide to Move Beyond Obsessive Doubt, Anxiety, and Fear of Commitment in Romantic Relationships. We discuss an up...

In episode 491 I chat with Rowen who has kindly agreed to share her OCD story with us. We discuss her story, compulsively confessing, sexual orientation themed OCD, relationship themed OCD, the possibility of her birth control (IUD) affecting her mental health, words of hope and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/rowen-491 The podcast is made possible by NOCD ....

In episode 490 chat with Jan Stewart. Jan is a mental health and neurodiversity advocate. She authored the book, 'Hold on Tight: A Parent's Journey Raising Children with Mental Illness'. We discuss Jan's parenting OCD story, neurodiversity, getting help for herself and her kids, why the patient is the whole family, separating her son from his diagnosis, reducing parental accommodation, advice for...

In episode 489 I chat with Dr Michael Greenberg. Michael is a clinical psychologist who specialises in Rumination-Focused ERP (RF-ERP).  We discuss an update on Michael, rumination-focused exposure and response prevention therapy (RF-ERP), OCD as a defense mechanism, a psychoanalytical view of OCD, digesting feelings, some different psychological defenses, attachment and early experiences, clinica...

In episode 488 I chat with Dr Steven Phillipson. Steven is a licensed clinical psychologist who specialises in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for OCD. Steven is the Clinical Director at the Center for Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy in New York. We discuss the worries that come up around getting obsessed with others responses to us - what Steve calls look at you looking at me, olfactory obsession...

In episode 487 I chat with Justin Hughes, Valerie Andrews, Dr Alan Noble, and Chelsea Risko. We discuss  how OCD can latch on to faith, scrupulosity, finding the line between compulsive prayer and valued prayer, exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), inference-based cognitive behavioural therapy (I-CBT), how faith was a support for them, worrying about therapy and faith, working with a no...

In episode 486 I chat with Stephen who has kindly agreed to share his OCD story with us. We discuss his story, his early memories, how OCD affected his work, existential themed OCD, medication, a detrimental psychedelics experience, religious scrupulosity, derealisation, getting admitted to a psychiatric ward, therapy, agoraphobia, boundaries, trauma work, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes:...