Justin’s Blog: “The Jog”

It’s “supposed” to be a special time.  You’ve worked hard and are ready to take a break.  But you feel more distressed and a certain pressure to be relaxed.  Welcome to anxiety invading special moments.   This can be true with vacations, holidays, days/hours off, and birthdays and anniversaries.  If you struggle to feel happy, content, […]

With most things we do in life that are healthy and good, sustainability requires the ability to stick with something over the long haul.   Health Requires Realism & Cutting Out Shame Theoretically, with any one aspect of growth we might be able to figure it out ourselves, so we may think to ourselves, “I don’t […]

When I first learned to implement mindfulness, relaxation, and deep breathing into my therapy practice, I have to admit I was surprised when some clients quickly stated one of a few things: They didn’t want to continue. It was distressing to them. It didn’t work for them.  It threw me off a little as a […]

I’ve got another confession to make.  No, I’m not starting the song, Foo Fighters’ “Best of You.”  I have been trying to cram WAY too much into life recently.  My brain feels that stress, and so does my body.  Blame it on the world, my environment, being “busy” with my life, my kids, my job- […]

This is the shortened version of the article, the “PRO Version” available here. Functional Assessment Defined A functional assessment (or analysis, FA) is a framework that clinicians use to assess and plan treatment.  It is simply “any empirical demonstration of a cause-effect relation,” its purpose being “to determine which sources of reinforcement account for problem […]

The Question It was a good question.  Anne* suffered extensively with fear, anxiety, and OCD.  She wanted any relief she could find.  “Can I drink a little alcohol during exposures?” Little Therapist Justin As an early specialist in OCD, I said to Anne my favorite thing to say when I don’t know: “I don’t know.”  […]

I just finished the soon-to-be released autobiography on a Christian’s suffering with OCD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Depression.  My connection with the author was a special one, after contributing articles to I Am Second myself, one day I looked at the related articles and discovered that someone shared publicly on their struggles with OCD.  As […]

Small changes, over time, lead to big results.   Keep Choppin’ If you chop a tree with an axe once per day, you won’t see much progress.  Daily for a year and a tree (most) won’t stand a chance.  However, we are often limited with black and white, insular thinking (a cognitive distortion), also called “all […]

This is the full, “PRO version” of this article.  Looking for the quick read with graphics?  Click here. A great strength we have as human beings is to make connections and associations between simple and complex information.  At its best, we can learn and grow.  At worst, we can live in total unreality. Therapy at […]

As a gift to my subscribers, the guide, Get Unstuck: Your Intro to Facing Fear & Getting Healthy is YOURS, FREE.  Not a subscriber? This is the updated version of the prior “Thriving Mental Health Alongside COVID-19,” leaving the best intact along with new considerations for 2021 and several new handouts, connected articles, guides, and […]

As with many of my clients, Anne* was befuddled as to why she couldn’t stop obsessing.  She was a high performer at work and revered in relationships.  However, she couldn’t get it out of her thoughts that she was failing, that imminent doom was about to befall her, and that it would all come crashing […]

I’ve had many clients and spouses state at the beginning of their exposure therapy that they are practicing ‘paradoxes’ to prove to themselves how ridiculous their OCD is.  I’m all for seeing OCD as ridiculous– however, OCD is not treated by insight-oriented approaches (psychodynamic, general psychotherapy- i.e., “talk,”). Paradoxical interventions work like the following example:  […]

You heard me. Yes, practice Failure. Not just “accept your mistakes” when they happen.  It’s a technique in exposure to social anxiety, perfectionism, scrupulosity, and more.  It’s genius if you ask me.  The Brilliant Rationale The rationale and purpose of practicing failure is to develop more flexibility and to lean in when it’s “game-time.”   Hunter* […]

Women’s mental health is getting more attention now than maybe ever before, which I think is awesome.  Acknowledging the beauty and uniqueness of strengths and struggles helps women to be more successful in their lives.   Here are some key considerations in mental health for women. In the U.S., women are twice as likely to be […]

Two OCD Specialist colleagues (and friends) just having fun on how to write exposure scripts in OCD. Exposure Therapy, in a phrase, is the systematic and intentional triggering of fear while minimizing- and ideally eliminating- all pathological responses.  Imaginal Exposure accomplishes this with thoughts and ideas. It is done in the context of addressing unhelpful/pathological responses […]