FearCast Podcast

Ellie reached out to ask about how to help her 14 year old who is struggling with a fear of becoming like other people. Emotional Contamination the name we often apply to the OCD subtype where someone is afraid they will take on the unwanted characteristics of other, or specific, people. To help, I discuss what Emotional Contamination is, how obsessions and compulsions sometimes present, and what...

Ward emailed me to share a struggle he’s going through related to his SO-OCD. He notes that he’s in therapy and making progress, but the anxiety is impacting his performance in the bedroom and his libido is much lower than he wants. Anxiety can have serious negative impacts on someone’s sexual life. I discuss how the expectations of sexual performance impacts performance, how health and lifestyle...

Payton reached out with a voice question on Instagram with a question that a lot of people who listen to this podcast can understand. She struggles with what she believes is Hyperawareness OCD/ Sensorimotor OCD and is fixated on the fact that she can see the tip of her nose. While it may seem harmless, like all other obsessions in the category, she agonizes over her awareness of it, when it will g...

Alana messaged me recently and asked about how she can tackle her perfectionism. It’s stopping her from sending in assignments, writing papers, and even makes her write down all the words she hears to make sure she knows them. Perfectionism can be awful, time consuming, and shame inducing. To try to help, I discuss perfectionism, some things to think about when challenging the thoughts that suppor...

Ever wonder what it’s like to be the partner of someone with Relationship OCD (ROCD)? Well, one listener did too, and they reached out to me and asked if I could have someone on to talk about their experience. So, Danielle Cohen, LMFT, joined me to talk about her experience with someone who struggles with ROCD. Danielle was kind enough to share her experience, her struggles, and her wins, which sh...

Rick reached out to me recently to ask a very simple question with a not-so-simple answer. He wanted to know if it’s normal to have intrusive thoughts on purpose? It got me thinking about a lot of my clients who ask similar questions about their thoughts and why they have them and what their responsibility is to them. Did they want them, so they came? Now that they are there, are they really THEIR...

Abby reached out to me via Instagram to ask a question that starts off a little Harm OCD, but ends up a little Sensorimotor/ Hyperawareness OCD. She wants to know how to deal with her intrusive, looping thoughts that focuses on harm related thoughts toward a family member. She knows it’s her OCD, so she’s not doing compulsions, but she hates that they are even there. Does she need to do ERP, and i...

M messaged me recently to ask about a situation that is all too common. They struggle with POCD, but are terrified to go see a therapist for treatment because what if the therapist 1) doesn’t diagnose them with POCD but actually thinks they are their worst fear, and 2) they actually are their worst fear and they don’t fully and clearly communicate their symptoms and they mistakenly get diagnosed w...

Struggling Artist emailed me with an admittedly long question. They want to become a full time artist but are struggling to take the leap because their Religious and Moral Scrupulosity OCD is trying to overtake their life. Obsessions about moral perfection are leading to checking compulsions, donating art sales profits, excessive confession, and mental rumination. Can they learn to work around it,...

Today I get to share a comment from Eden and a question from Nicholas. Eden wanted to share her experience with Casadastraphobia. I love being able to share others’ experiences because everyone’s experience is a little bit different; even when people share the same anxiety subtype. After this, I get to answer Nicholas’ question about taking power away from the sensations that seem to be plaguing h...

Katie reached out ask me a simple question about how to pursue Exposure and Response Prevention when she cannot habituate to anxiety after she has had a resurgence of a fungus growing in her fingernails, and now toenails! She’s been through treatment, including IOP, but now is struggling to figure out what to do now that her anxiety is back! Finally, a contamination adjacent question!! I discuss s...

Phil messaged me to ask a simple question; what can he do to fight the inner fight of SO-OCD? He comments that he is in a relationship but constantly gets unwanted, intrusive thoughts telling him to “come out” or otherwise twisting completely neutral thoughts into something he does not want. So, what can he do? He’s doing exposures, but finds that in general he is uncomfortable around gay men. Doe...

Today’s episode features another amazing interview with someone at the forefront of their field. I had the privilege to interview Dr. Lorna Myers about Functional Neurological Disorder and Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures. This may be new to many of this podcast’s listeners, but it is another fascinating dive into how the brain works, and when the brain misfires. Dr. Myers spent a bunch of time...

In light of Mother’s Day, I had a chance to sit down with Dr. Jon Abramowitz and chat about Post Partum and Parinatal OCD, usually abbreviated as PPOCD. Dr. Abramowitz and I discussed the nuts and bolts of PPOCD, how it fits within the general OCD cycle, the impact it has on both new mothers and fathers, and what treatment looks like. As usual, we get distracted by other topics of OCD and Dr. Abra...

For today’s episode, I answer a question from C. She wants to know what she can do about her dissociation and memory loss when she becomes triggered and/ or overwhelmed with anxiety. What’s worse, she feels this way when she tries to do ERP and wonders whether or not the dissociation will make her efforts toward exposure fruitless. I offer her some ideas on how she can work with her dissociation....

Jenn wrote to me asking about how she can deal with the feelings of shame and embarrassment after her family has heard the details, and been the recipients of, her compulsive confession, reassurance seeking, and other compulsive behavior. She’s struggling with the shame that happens after years of compulsive vulnerability and wants to know how to put her relationship back together after they’ve se...

Kallie sent me a question that I’m sure every single person who has listened to this podcast has asked– “Why does OCD feel so real?!” She also asks why her specific subtype keeps showing up despite other subtypes coming and going, so there’s a little something for everyone. This is a tricky question to answer, but I discuss some of the tricks OCD plays on the brain, and how the brain is uniquely s...

Today’s episode includes two questions and two answers, both having to do with memories. For the first question, the listener wants to know what can be done about false memories. So, we have to discuss False Memory OCD and Real Event OCD! The next question is from a listener who struggles with the fear of forgetting what just happened. Their obsession branches out to a lot, and also finds some of...

Max emailed me and asked a question that has never been asked on the FearCast before. He shares that he struggles with Intrusive Musical Imagery, or intrusive mental snippets of songs, and he wants to know how to deal with them. This is a great question that, even Max acknowledges, does not have a lot of information out there. But, I did some research to find some good and helpful information that...

Today’s question comes from Rick and Emilie. Rick struggles with feeling terrible over the fact that he even has POCD related thoughts and worries they reflect something terrible about himself. Furthermore, he feels worse now that he doesn’t feel as bad as he did before! What could that mean?! Emilie is similarly struggling with guilt, but the kind rooted in Real Event OCD and False Memory OCD. Di...

Today’s main question comes from a listener who seems to be stuck in a memory from two life events and she cant seem to get herself out of, away from, or past them. She’s tried ERP, but nothing seems to work. But, what if ERP in this instance wasn’t the solution? A OCD Therapist not immediately suggesting ERP?! Outrageous! And yet, what if ERP wasn’t the fix, but instead living and learning would...

Today’s question is a fun one (for me). PotatoChipFiend emailed me asking me how they should deal with recurring thoughts about their childhood crushes and whether or not it is a form of POCD? In this episode I offer some guidance for exposures, ways to rethink the meaning of the story for him, how he can separate the fear into different parts that may be easier to accept, and ways he can apply CB...

For this week’s question, Sisi emailed me asking about the best exposures for Sensorimotor OCD. So, while of course I offer some suggestions and ideas, I also use this as an opportunity to discuss Attention Training as a way to help build your skill to allowing distraction while intentionally, and non-compulsively, directing your attention. Trigger warning, I read some poetry in the episode. Consi...

Maya messaged me recently with a question about her Real Event OCD. She decided to finally say “no” to a confession compulsion as part of her Real-Event cycle, but this has re-triggered the OCD theme! What should she do? Sometimes we are stuck in situations where there is no perfect outcome, so we have to do our best, make a choice, move forward, and suffer consequences if and when they come. But,...

Today I’m releasing an episode early in honor of Valentines Day! This question comes from Teddy who is in an open relationship and has a fear that he will be replaced by someone else. While it may not be the expected podcast content for Valentines day, there is actually a lot of overlap from Teddy’s question to others struggling with ROCD and other relationship anxieties. References in the show: h...