The OCD & Anxiety Podcast

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com In this episode Robert James explains how OCD keeps you stuck by convincing you that you must solve your thoughts before living. He shows that recovery comes from changing your response: tolerating uncertainty, taking action aligned with your values, and building momentum through commitment rather than certainty. Robert als...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com In episode 578 Robert James explores a sneaky OCD compulsion: constantly checking your internal state—how anxious you feel, whether a thought is still there, or if you’ve handled it correctly. He explains how monitoring becomes a safety behavior that teaches the brain to treat uncertainty like a problem that must be solved....

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com In this episode Robert James explains how rumination fuels OCD and shares a simple three-step technique—acknowledge, tolerate, refocus—to break the cycle. He also teaches a postponement strategy to give your nervous system space and to build long-term resilience. Practical, compassionate, and actionable, this episode shows...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com Robert James interviews a former client, who shares her experience overcoming relationship OCD while planning and ultimately having her wedding. She explains how therapy, acceptance and commitment techniques, and group support helped her sit with uncertainty, cancel and later reschedule a smaller ceremony, and move forward...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com Robert James explains the cruel irony that when you begin to improve from OCD, intrusive thoughts and anxiety can temporarily increase — not because you’re failing but because the habit of OCD resists change. He shares the three-step approach: acknowledge thoughts, tolerate the anxiety, and redirect attention to the present...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com Robert James explains three common reasons people stay trapped in OCD: impatience and seeking quick fixes, searching for a perfect or secret solution, and failing to manage rumination. He outlines why recovery takes time, how chasing instant relief backfires, and offers practical help—including a 12-week program and support...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com Robert James explains why trying to fix intrusive thoughts keeps you stuck in OCD and shows a simpler approach: stop solving the puzzle. Learn how labeling the urge, allowing uncertainty, and choosing not to follow the 'white rabbit' breaks the cycle and helps you reclaim control. Includes a mention of his 12-week Break Fre...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com Coach Robert James explores how the search for certainty fuels OCD and why trying harder only strengthens compulsions. He explains that letting go of control isn’t giving up but stepping out of an unwinnable battle, and that acceptance — not elimination of anxiety — helps the nervous system settle. Through metaphor and prac...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com Robert James discusses practical strategies to manage and reduce intrusive thoughts — a common and distressing part of OCD. He explains why fighting thoughts can make them worse, how to allow uncertainty without being overwhelmed, and ways to redirect attention to meaningful life activities. The episode also mentions a 12-w...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com In episode 570, Robert James explains relationship OCD — how caring about your partner becomes fuel for doubt, rumination, and confusion, and why that confusion isn't proof the relationship is wrong. He shares personal experience and practical advice: stop trying to think your way to certainty, practice presence, suspend ju...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com In this episode Robert James explains how OCD pushes us into black-and-white thinking, amplifying anxiety and driving compulsions by convincing us we must have 100% certainty before feeling okay. He offers practical guidance to notice and cultivate a sense of safety in the body, use grounding practices to tolerate uncertain...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com In this episode Robert James explores how to regain control from OCD by reclaiming your agency, proving you have choice, and using small daily steps like postponing compulsions, exposure, and values-driven attention to build lasting change. He also briefly describes a 12-week coaching program for OCD and anxiety based on hi...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com This episode is a guided meditation led by Robert James designed to help you let go of OCD intrusive thoughts using a sushi conveyor belt metaphor. It teaches you to observe thoughts without reacting, stay grounded in your body, and practice being the watcher rather than the participant. Robert also mentions a 12-week progr...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com This episode explains why setbacks in OCD are normal and not a return to square one — the progress you make is embedded in your nervous system. Robert James outlines how exposure, acceptance, and a growth mindset help you learn to lean into discomfort and build resilience. He offers practical steps: pause without panicking,...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com In this episode Robert James explains how recovery from OCD comes from learning to bring difficult emotions into the light, sit with discomfort, and build resilience. He shares practical approaches like exposure work, leaning into uncertainty, and small challenges — from difficult conversations to improv or cold exposure —...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com Robert James explains why acceptance for OCD and anxiety isn’t an all-or-nothing goal but a spectrum of skills — tolerating uncertainty, leaning into discomfort, and practising exposure, ACT, and mindfulness to build acceptance over time. He shares practical steps to practice acceptance, how it reduces the intensity of dist...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com In this episode Robert James explains how long-term recovery from OCD comes from learning to "hold the paradox" — accepting uncomfortable fears while consciously connecting with present-moment peace and your values. He describes practical shifts: tolerate uncertainty, lean into discomfort, focus on the present, and outlines...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com Robert James explores the common fear that constant rumination and OCD permanently damages the brain and explains how neuroplasticity can work for—or against—you. He shares his personal recovery story, practical tools (acceptance, exposure, self-compassion), and how consistent practice can reshape thought patterns. The epis...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com This final sensorimotor OCD episode introduces a focused exposure exercise for Sensorimotor OCD: intentionally turning toward unwanted sensations, using slow breathing, and shifting attention between body areas to build acceptance and flexibility. Robert also announces a new Sensorimotor OCD podcast and his 12-week program...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com In this episode Robert James, a coach who has lived with OCD and anxiety, explores the deeper work of recovery: learning to feel difficult emotions rather than resisting them. He explains how problem-solving and resistance fuel obsessive thoughts and compulsions, and shows how compassion, acceptance and gently leaning into...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com In episode 559 Robert James shares three practical tips to help you stop overthinking, quiet rumination, and refocus on the present. Learn how to redirect attention to what matters now, gently lean into uncomfortable emotions instead of numbing them, and build self-compassion to reduce the inner critic that fuels OCD thinki...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com In this episode Robert James explains the key differences between sensoriotor OCD—where obsessions focus inward on bodily sensations and actions—and other, more external forms of OCD. He shares his own experience and why sensorimotor OCD can feel more stubborn, but ultimately stems from the same core issue: uncertainty and...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com In episode 557, Robert James leads a guided meditation to help you find brief moments of calm while living with OCD and anxiety. The practice emphasizes resting with thoughts and sensations instead of trying to stop them, noticing the quiet awareness beneath anxiety, and carrying gentle inner strength into everyday life Dis...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com In this episode Robert James explains why you are stronger than your OCD and how the condition uses your values and caring nature against you. He encourages listeners to recognize that they can choose differently, face uncertainty, and resist compulsions to reclaim their lives. Robert outlines practical steps for recovery,...

Book your free discovery call directly, visit: www.robertjamescoaching.com In this episode Robert James explains how sensory-motor OCD tricks you into chasing the perfect way to breathe, blink or swallow and why that pursuit keeps you stuck. He outlines a practical shift: stop searching for the perfect fix and practice acting as you would if you weren’t struggling, use brief grounding tools sparin...