In episode 509 I chat with Ian O’Brien. Ian is a psychotherapist based in Dublin, Ireland, who specialises in OCD.

We discuss his OCD story including relationship OCD (rOCD) and pOCD, getting therapy, support groups, and becoming a therapist. We then discuss his research on why people struggle to engage with ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) in which he analysed over 100 interviews from The OCD Stories podcast to explore the real challenges people face in starting, sticking with, or completing ERP. He shares the three major themes that emerged where people struggled with ERP including lots of sub themes, and suggestions for improvements in ERP, and much more. Hope it helps.

Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/ian-509

The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories

Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

In episode 508 I chat with Michael Stier. Michael is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) and Director of Education and Training at the Anxiety Specialists of Atlanta.

We discuss his therapy story, working with health anxiety, the health anxiety book he co-wrote, what is health anxiety, insight in health anxiety, bodily sensations, values based living, and much more. Hope it helps.

Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/michael-508

The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories

Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

In episode 507 I chat with Chrissie Hodges. Chrissie is a Peer Support specialist, founder of OCD Gamechangers, and Author of ‘Pure OCD: The Invisible Side of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder’. Chrissie was awarded the hero award at the 24th IOCDF conference in San Fran.

We discuss her community, acceptance and radical acceptance, what is acceptance, what are we actually accepting, what acceptance is not, taboo themes of OCD, shame and guilt, barriers to acceptance, and much more. Hope it helps.

Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/chrissie-507

The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories

Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

In episode 506 I chat with Dr Sam Greenblatt. Sam is a licensed clinical psychologist.

We discuss an update on him, relationship OCD (ROCD) using his personal story as a case study, improving ROCD treatment, exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), internal family systems (IFS) therapy, working with other emotions around ROCD, feeling emotions without analysing them, improving relationships, and much more. Hope it helps.

Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/sam-506

The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories

Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

In episode 505 I chat with Dr Fahad Khan. Fahad is a licensed clinical psychologist. He currently serves as the Deputy Director at Khalil Center, providing psychological services while supervising clinical and research work. He co-wrote The Islamic Workbook for Religious OCD: A Guide for Overcoming Intrusive Thoughts and Compulsions.

We discuss his therapy story, waswasa, compulsive prayer, helping Imans and other community members in understanding OCD, exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), culturally attuned ERP, Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy (TIIP), words of hope and much more. Hope it helps.

Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/fahad-505

The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories

Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

Thanks to all our patrons for supporting our work. To sign up to our Patreon and to check out the benefits you’ll receive as a Patron, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theocdstoriespodcast

In episode 504 I chat with Jack who has kindly agreed to share his OCD story with us.

We discuss his OCD story, guilt and shame, diet and exercise as part of OCD, an eating disorder diagnosis, exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), medication, support groups, being creative, expressing through poetry, the idea of signal vs noise, self compassion, he reads some of his poetry, and much more. Hope it helps.

Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/jack-504

The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories

Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

Thanks to all our patrons for supporting our work. To sign up to our Patreon and to check out the benefits you’ll receive as a Patron, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theocdstoriespodcast

In episode 503 I chat with Samantha Faden and Dr Jenifer Cullen. Samantha is autistic and has lived experience with OCD. Sam is the client of Dr Cullen. Jenifer M. Cullen, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist at the McLean OCD Institute.

We discuss their therapy relationship as therapist and client, how Sam’s therapy journey has gone, what worked, how they learned together over time, getting an autism diagnosis, working out together where autism and OCD starts, ends or overlaps. We also discuss trichotillomania, adjusting exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP) for autistic clients, rupture and repair in the therapeutic relationship, adjusting for sensory sensitivities in ERP, having a sensory overload plan, rating anxiety during exposures through special interests, changing the pace of therapy, having more structure and clarity, changing the language used around autism, motivation in therapy, words of hope, and much more. Hope it helps.

Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/sam-and-jen-503

The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories

Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

Thanks to all our patrons for supporting our work. To sign up to our Patreon and to check out the benefits you’ll receive as a Patron, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theocdstoriespodcast

In episode 502 I chat with Christopher Weston. Chris is a therapist (LMFT) specialising in OCD.

We discuss his OCD story, his early life experiences that were challenging, panic attacks, somatic/sensorimotor OCD, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and much more.

Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/chris-502

The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories

Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

Thanks to all our patrons for supporting our work. To sign up to our Patreon and to check out the benefits you’ll receive as a Patron, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theocdstoriespodcast