OCD Straight Talk

Chris discusses the difference between the style and persona of a good OCD-therapist and the supportive way of a truly helpful family member. It's about balancing two opposing ideas. But many family members fall too far to one side or the other. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com. If you've OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving us a 5-st...

Chris presents the idea that there's always some evidence, some reason to perceive intrusive thoughts as reality. This coupled with the reasonable possibility of feared outcomes heightens anxiety for OCDers. Evidence makes the thoughts feel real ... even if the evidence can point to several conclusions. So the question isn't, Can I dismantle or disprove the evidence; it's, Can I tolerate the uncer...

Chris presents a conversation he often has with patients at the beginning of treatment. Expectations are powerful things, including if they're unrealistic. So having healthy and reasonable expectations is important, especially when it what we should expect to get out of therapy. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com. If you've found the podcast...

Chris presents a definition for OCD that extends outside of the diagnostic criteria. "Why?," you might wonder. The answer is because the diagnostic criteria is so inclusive that it doesn't actually exclude very much at all. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com. If you've found the podcast helpful, consider giving OCD Straight Talk a 5...

Chris discusses an attentional principle that is readily observable for most people. You can't both ruminate and engage the goings-on of the here-and-now at the same time. You're either doing one or the other, even if that means that you're quickly switching back and forth between the two. Chris builds on this concept and provides a practical strategy to harness the principle in order...

Chris discusses a personal journey with interpersonal boundaries, confrontation, and self-esteem. He chronicles a time he confronted a person in his life who historically treated him badly; and described how he felt about himself after having done that. He then ties this into OCD-treatment, and works to show the power of behavior-change, no matter the situation you're in.

Chris presents by starting with a question that lingers in the air at this point: What am I supposed to do about my intrusive thoughts? The answer may not be what you want to hear. But it is echoed by the literature, and has been for nearly six decades. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com If you've found the podcast helpful, consider giving us a 5...

A listener responds to Pillar 3 with a question. Chris responds. There's ALWAYS risk; but there's only sometimes danger. Listen to find out more. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com. If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, feel free to give it a 5-star rating, and subscribe to the podcast for more structured help with your anxiety- or O...

Chris explains a logical dynamic that goes two ways: the more we have a felt need for certainty, the harder we pursue it. And we pursue it, of course, by doing compulsions. But the harder we pursue it, the more elusive it proves to be. And then, we're back to the beginning. We have a deep and urgent need for certainty. But that street travels two ways. This is where and how Pillars 3, 4, and 5...

Chris recaps Pillar 1 with a few subtype-examples, and moves to Pillar 2. This is the idea of "reps," or repetitions. Doing something over and over again increases both our competence in executing a task, and sharpens our understanding of it - big picture. The same is true of exposure therapy. Reps are the backbone of getting better.

Chris tackles the first of the Five Pillars, showing that generally OCDers generally don't make a lot of progress without structured, expert help. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com. If you've found OCDST helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with you anxiety- or OCD-symptoms.

Chris launches a new series on the role of the patient or the listener in the process of getting better. He reviews a document, forged from clinical experience, and written for his patients that explains their specific responsibilities in the act of getting as much out of their therapeutic journey as possible.

Chris discusses a couple of cases that illustrate that idea that sometimes OCD and anxiety disorders flip the script on you, and completely change the behaviors that feed them. All of the sudden, the behaviors that previously were healthy are now compulsive; and the behaviors that were compulsive are now healthy.

"Life's a fight!" Chris discusses a personal slogan and explains what that means in the context of OCD. Fighting means both the will to win and a strategy to succeed. In the fight against OCD, you need both. Why? Because OCD has both, too.

Chris responds to a listener's question about the ever-popular topic, Pure-O. He highlights the concept of identifying compulsions; as Pure-Oers do compulsions, they just don't properly identify them. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com If you've OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating and subscribing to the podcast f...

Building off of the last two episodes, Chris discusses common errors made in exposure-work. These concepts aren't new to the podcast; but they are ... common mistakes. What that means is that you're probably doing them. And the reality is that exposure therapy generally doesn't work very well if we're committing one or both of these mistakes. Feel free to reach out with any questio...

In this episode, Chris faces his relationship-OCD and does what's called, an imaginal exposure. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com. If you've found the podcast helpful, consider giving us a 5-star review, and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with your anxiety- or OCD-symptoms.

Chris talks through a few erroneous but common ideas of exposure therapy. These are mistakes made by both consumers and inexperienced therapists. He then explains four components of good exposure therapy. If done properly, these generally render exposure-work effective but uncomfortable. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com. If you've found OCD Str...

Chris discusses fears and case-examples that involve physical symptoms and environmental experiences, and that the OCD says "this" is evidence of, or means "that." These can be difficult to deal with, because there's something real and observable thrown into the obsessive-compulsive "mix." Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gm...

Chris discusses some literature and case-examples relative to how anxiety- and OCD-symptoms can interfere with individuals' sex life. Most notably, he shows that most common forms of sexual dysfunction, in both men and women, are caused or maintained by Sexual Performance Anxiety. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com. If you've found OCD Straig...

Chris sits down with Kimberley Quinlan of the great podcast, Your Anxiety Toolkit. They discuss various topics from the history of their careers and supervisors who were pivotal in shaping who they are as clinicians today to what techniques they favor in therapy and why. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com. I you've OCD Straight Talk helpful, cons...

Chris responds to a listener's question about the difference between OCD and excoriation disorder. This is an important question, because many OCDers report that they pick at their skin "as a compulsion." In many cases, they can just stop. But what happens when they can't? Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com. If you've found the...

Chris finishes the series on SCAMP and the Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors. In this episode, he focuses on the last two trigger-categories (Movement and Place) represented in the acronym. This episode was made possible by NOCD. Feel free to reach out with any question you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com. If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating, and...

Chris continues to series on OCD-Related disorders, this time talking through the "A" (for Affect) in the acronym SCAMP. The important idea is effectively manage triggers, to include feelings. There's one notable exception to this rule. And I'll bet you can guess what that is. This podcast was made possible by NOCD. Feel free to reach out with any questions to might have to chris...

Chris continues the series on skin picking and hair-pulling habits, focusing on Charlie Mansueto's SCAMP concept: Successful treatment of excoriation disorder and trichotillomania is not so much about exercising sheer willpower but about identifying and managing contexts or triggers. This episode is made possible by NOCD. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might to chrisleins04@gmail.co...