Justin’s Blog: “The Jog”

Confusing Doubt and Fear With God Speaking When Susan* began therapy for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), she had a lot of questions pertaining to her faith.  In fact, she often thought she was dealing regularly with inherent spiritual problems, when, in reality, much of her concerns were just problems that […]

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 […]

This article is aimed at Christians but also provides a rich overview on scrupulosity.  It was written by Ted Witzig, Jr., PhD and was graciously allowed to be reproduced in its entirety.  I first met Dr. Witzig at IOCDF conferences.  He is compassionate, intelligent, and provides some of the best overviews I’ve seen with OCD […]

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 […]

Check out my featured article as part of the Mental Health Grace Alliance.  This is my most vulnerable personal writing yet on my journey with mental health.  I hope you’ll be encouraged. 3 Ways I Got Unstuck From Anxiety & Depression Not familiar with MHGA yet?  They are a strong voice for mental health recovery in […]

In the first part of this series, fear and anxiety was presented as a warning system that can operate properly or erroneously.  We examined how saints throughout history (in the Bible, specifically) directly were fearful, afraid, or anxious, and this was not necessarily linked with sin.  Let’s jump into why and how spending the time […]

Honored to be featured again in the I Am Second mental health blog, this post addresses the common occurrence of Intrusive Thoughts and how those of Christian faith can live in freedom. Click Here to Read NOW

Mark* was generally confident in his therapy, but bringing up sex….well, he got a little sheepish.  He had these small avoidances that he never realized were behavioral and cognitive avoidances.  For example, he would never have sex with his wife when the kids weren’t away from home.  He intentionally steered conversation away from topics with […]

“I feel like I really love my baby, but, I just don’t know. I have these terrible thoughts that pop into my mind. Thoughts of harming my baby. I actually vomited last night it made me so upset. I don’t know why I’m having these” “Everyone around me, including my pastor, seems to think I […]

When clients become experts in doing exposures (Social Anxiety, PTSD, OCD, Phobias), they become used to facing fear, disgust, and other uncomfortable feelings square on without tricks and escapes- while still pursuing the valued behaviors and thought processes they want.  Sounds too good to be true?  It’s not, but it takes discipline and hard work, […]

OCD in context. You may already be very familiar with references to OCD, especially in the larger culture.  “I’m soooooo OCD” is a phrase, often unhelpful to true sufferers, that reflects the current sentiments of many as to what it is.  Neat.  Picky.  High Standards.  Demanding.  This is NOT necessarily OCD in and of itself.  […]

In poker, a “tell” is a sort of behavioral or observable change that, usually unbeknownst to the person, can reveal information that can be used for another player to get the upper hand.  Smirks, scratching of the nose, looking away, smiling- expert poker players work hard to conceal these (why many wear sunglasses). Notice Something […]

One of the things that is very grounding about the Christian faith is that there is not only truth/Truth we follow, but hopefully a willingness to pursue disciplines that either a) aren’t comfortable, or b), may not necessarily make sense immediately.  This is very helpful in therapy when clients don’t throw up resistance to the […]

A common question I get is, “What if I get overwhelmed before we meet next?”  If we have ruled out serious risks dealing with safety, usually there’s a simple tool that can seriously help (while working the treatment plan).  Through the study of the brain, human behavior, and feedback from clients, here is a ripcord to pull in […]

Teddy pumped the sanitizer bottle for the second time in three minutes.  “I know, I know, it doesn’t help when I haven’t touched anything else, but I want to be sure.  You never know these days, right?”  Freda waits to enter gatherings and meetings until everyone else has shown up- “It just helps me know I […]