Justin’s Blog: “The Jog”

Ever noticed how if you try to push something away it seems to come back even stronger?  A common phrase in my work is “What you resist, persists.”  And this couldn’t be truer than with anxiety, panic, OCD, and maybe just about any problem that’s fear related. Repeated checking leads to “memory distrust” (Hout & […]

In the journey of recovery from OCD, developing quick shortcuts to identify obsessions and/or compulsions is very helpful.  Otherwise, clients who attempt to stop and pause to assess every obsession run into two problems: The risk (and actuality) of over-analyzing, thus obsessing more on what is or isn’t an obsession.  This is part of the […]

Is it ego-dystonic?  (Inconsistent with one’s personality and/or fundamental beliefs.) It’s called the “Doubting Disease” for a reason. When a person begins to doubt visibly and experientially something that they seem to know, this is something to pay attention to.     Did you lock the door?   Yes.  [10 minutes later] Well, maybe I should go […]

As a sequel to my popular, “ERP 4 OCD- Ultimate Guide to Treating OCD” training, here is the full length training on “Common Pitfalls in ERP 4 OCD.”  I have given this to OCD sufferers, family/friends, clergy, and clinicians.  May it benefit you wherever you find yourself today. Intro Evidence-based treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder […]

Peter’s Paradox Peter* came to counseling and admitted he was overly obsessive about faith matters- and that obsessing itself caused problems.  But he couldn’t break free. He acknowledged the classic paradox of OCD: insight outside of the moment to see that his behavior was unreasonable, but simultaneously doubt and lack of insight during severe periods […]

Talk therapy is not the way to improve with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).  Talk therapy is also known as “supportive psychotherapy” or insight-oriented therapies.  In many cases, these approaches can OCD worse.  Writer and actress Lena Dunham shares how she experienced both sides of the street.  The Gold Standard of treatment is Exposure and Response Prevention […]

Our Feelings and Thoughts Are Not A Guarantee In Part 1 of 2: Doubt, Fear, and Uncertainty, I emphasized a key point: Just because a problem deals with a spiritual issue doesn’t mean it must be exclusively a spiritual problem addressed through exclusively spiritual means.   Let me add one: Just because I feel or think something […]

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 […]

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 […]

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* […]

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 […]

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 […]