OCD Straight Talk

*** Big OCD Straight Talk Announcement coming November 1, 2022. Chris discusses a really common response OCDers have to their intrusive thoughts. The conversations we have with ourselves can often happen almost outside of our conscious awareness. Certain responses can be instinctive or reflexive. But does that mean that they're not compulsive? But wait, does it mean they are? These are important q...

Chris deals with a common question in therapy: What do I do: I have anxiety, not OCD. The Cognitive Model provides a useful roadmap for understanding anxiety-related symptoms; and it offers a practical, step-by-step guide for beginning to change their severity.  Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have. Chrisleins04@gmail.com If you found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider gi...

Chris responds to a listener's question about how to manage "just right"-OCD. It's important, first and foremost, to remember that OCD is OCD; and although OCD often appears in so-called "subtypes," the condition is largely treated the same way. Chris explains how just right-OCD is distinct from other subtypes, and discusses managing the "feeling" of "just right." Feel free to reach out with any q...

At the request of a listener, Chris returns to the question of, How do I stop ruminating? He provides a specific technique, but explains the importance of first distinguishing between different kinds of thinking. It is a compulsion to block intrusive thoughts; but it is not a compulsion to stop a compulsion (e.g., rumination).  Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have. Chrisle...

Chris responds to a question regarding perceived memory loss and obsessional distress, and incorporates various clinical observations and explanation into his response.  Feel free to reach out with any question you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com, or @ocdstraighttalk. If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving us a 5-star rating, and supporting the podcast to help us prod...

Chris discusses his understanding of the dreaded phrase, "I can't" in relation to the resistance of compulsions, and discloses his battle with OCD. But an important difference is to be highlighted between the notion that you can't and the empowering idea that you won't. One points to power and therefore the possibility of a different tomorrow.  Feel free to reach out with any questions you mi...

Chris discusses the Cognitive Model and how it applies to depressive and anxious symptoms. Distinguishing between symptoms that we can directly control and symptoms that we can't is an essential first step to making progress. The questions become, Where do you have control? and, What are you doing to feed the bear?  Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmai...

Chris sits down with Dr. Kathleen Rupertus, Clinical Director of the Anxiety & OCD Treatment Center in Wilmington, DE, and coauthor of the acclaimed Loving Someone with OCD . Together they discuss a range of topics, from the difference between OCD thoughts and real-world concerns, the so-called "disconfirmation of beliefs" in the treatment of OCD versus the concept of accepting uncertainty; an...

Chris is on Instagram (@ocdstraighttalk)! On this episode, Chris explains the idea that we're not really doing exposure therapy if we're also doing compulsions (or OCD minus the "C" equals Exposure and Response Prevention), and presents the concept from a few points of view. But some people get stuck on the idea of stopping compulsions. Afterall, certain things are easier said than done. So he pro...

Chris sits down with Dr. Edna Foa, a psychological scientist who needs no real introduction. To those who are even somewhat familiar with the literature relative to the treatment of OCD, the anxiety disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder, Dr. Foa is internationally recognizable as one of the great contributors to evidence-based psychotherapy. She is among those who will go down in psychologi...

Chris discusses the symptomatologic reality that individuals can't manage their anxiety and manage their compulsions: they're either working to keep their anxiety in check, and in so doing they're engaging compulsions; or they're identifying, resisting, and preventing compulsions when they feel anxious, and facing the anxiety head-on. They can't do both; and neither can you.  Feel free to rea...

Chris discusses a phenomenon that he calls, The Banana Peel Effect that changes the power individuals report feeling over resisting and stopping compulsions. The idea is that the more individuals engage their compulsions, the less ability they feel they have to resist and stop them. Or, the more we engage the OCD, the more the power differential shifts to favor it. 

Chris discusses the idea of coupling your fight to get better with strategic no-how. Being determined to stop compulsions without the skill of identifying them is like swinging at the baseball with a blindfold on.  Reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

Chris discusses a central distinction between symptoms indicative of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD and those indicative of OCD. The punchline is: you can't have trauma without trauma; but you can have OCD. In other words, trauma is a past-oriented system of here-and-now symptoms, while OCD is very typically a future-oriented anxiety-construct. Beyond these distinctions, however, you might...

Chris discusses the differences in symptom-presentation and evidence-based intervention between two common, anxiety-related disorders: Panic Disorder and OCD. Fundamentally, you might say, they're the same thing. But be careful, you're only right to a certain point. Important differences characterize these conditions.  Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@g...

Chris puts several pieces together and discusses significant challenges in the process of treatment. A different life is possible; but you've got to fight for it. 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 us a 5-star rating, and support the podcast to help us produce more content. 

Chris shares two clinical experiences that he says helped shape him as an OCD therapist. Bottom line, "It's not my job to get you better," he says. He ties therapeutic skills and strategies to the empirical truth that control and responsibility cannot be separated; they travel together. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com. If you've found OCD Straight...

Chris answers a question about Thanatophobia (fear of death), and highlights the concept of meta-cognition (thoughts we have about thoughts we have) with OCD and the anxiety disorders.  Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have, Chrisleins04@gmail.com If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, feel free to give us a 5-star rating, and support the podcast to help us produce more cont...

Chris responds to a question about a so-called subtype of OCD known as Real Event OCD. This is a unique presentation among OCD symptoms in the sense that it emerges in the context of intact memories.  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 us a 5-star rating, and support the podcast to he...

How you ever dissected your OCD to see how it works? In this episode, Chris discusses both the difference between, and the mutual connection of the symptom-dimensions of OCD.  Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com. If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving us a 5-Star review, or supporting the podcast to help us produce more conten...

Chris sits down with Dr. Robert Hindman, a trainer at the widely respected Beck Institute, and specialist in the treatment of clinically significant anxiety problems. Chris and Dr. Hindman discuss issues spanning from the concept of the Cognitive Model to the application of that model to beating your OCD-system.  Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.c...

Chris grapples with the question of uncertainty. Is it your enemy, like many OCDers tend to think, or is it actually your friend? Good question. Let's talk through it. But where does accepting uncertainty end? Another good question.  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-star review, and...

Chris tackles a very common question among OCD-ers internationally - Why is it that my OCD didn't get better in psychotherapy? It is a complicated issue. But at the end of the day, there's only so many reasons why this might happen, despite the fact that the phenomenon is common.  Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have. Chrisleins04@gmail.com. If you've found OCD Straight Ta...

Chris discusses subtle difference between classical Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Exposure and Ritual Prevention (Ex/RP) in the treatment of OCD. The two have a good deal in common, as Ex/RP is really the "grandchild" of CBT; and both are based upon the cognitive model.  Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have. Chrisleins04@gmail.com. If you have found OCD Straight Tal...

Chris discusses a summary-comment that a patient made at the "finish line" of treatment: "When you can tell the difference between the obsessions and the compulsions, you're halfway there."  Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com. If you have found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving us a 5-Star rating, and supporting the podcast to help us p...