Marrying Intention and Attention
OCD and your smartphone both send you notifications when they want you to so something, but marrying your attention to your intentions can keep you from getting lost in either the digital world or OCD hell.
The Anatomy of ERP for OCD
So how exactly do I approach ERP (exposure and response prevention therapy) for OCD? I share the process and steps I use as well as the difference between proactive and reactive ERP.
Breaking out of the OCD cycle: lessons from my younger self
Your younger self may have lessons to teach you about how NOT to get caught in the OCD cycle.
A Recipe for Suffering
It's unfortunately all too easy to create our own suffering using the tried and true formula of Pain x Resistance = Suffering.
OCD is Not What You Think
What's wrong with saying, "I'm so OCD"? The hypothesis is that when people who have untreated OCD hear other people misuse the name of their disorder, it discourages them from seeking treatment.
Are You Handcuffed to Your Devices, and Is OCD at Fault?
In an effort to stop rushing around the way Emmy Rossum elegantly captures in her song “Slow Me Down," a little over a month ago I took both The Focus Course and The Margin Course. I wanted to learn how to make better progress on important projects with less racing around and more breathing room. Assignments in both courses asked me to identify distractions that interfered with my ability to focus. I came up with a list of 11 types, including email, my phone, my Fitbit, social media and even OCD...
Q&A for Interrupting OCD’s Mental Rituals with “May or May Not”
Here are the questions submitted about my blog Interrupt OCD’s Mental Rituals with “May or May Not” (MOMN) and my answers.
Interrupt OCD’s Mental Rituals with “May or May Not”
If you have trouble using Shoulders Back/Man in the Park because you keep transacting with your OCD in your mind, otherwise known as “mentally ritualizing” or what some call “pure-O,” read about an ERP technique that’s a bridge tool to help you develop the strength to do Shoulders Back/Man in the Park effectively.
Q&A for Shoulders Back! The Man in the Park
Here are the questions submitted about my blog post Shoulders Back! The Man in the Park and my answers.
Shoulders Back! The Man in the Park
The man in the park metaphor is one I use all the time with clients to explain how to most effectively handle OCD.
Aha! Moments from Stopping the Noise in Your Head
On Monday, as I was boarding a flight from Baltimore to Atlanta, I asked the flight attendant standing by the cockpit door [...]
Aha! Moments from an Aha! Moment … and dog toys … and questionable holiday merchandising choices …
Why do I have a dog toy with a tissue taped to it sitting on my desk? And how does [...]
Aha! Moments from Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World
I read the following paragraph from Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World by Mark Williams [...]
Aha! Moments from Self-Compassion
Let's talk about something seemingly unrelated to OCD: the Stockholm syndrome. Named after a situation in the early 1970s where [...]
Aha! Moments from Frozen
When I was a little girl, I used to daydream that I had fantastic, magical powers. I would imagine myself standing [...]
Aha! Moments from Man’s Search for Meaning and Unbroken
It was an auspicious coincidence that I decided to read Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl and Unbroken: A World War [...]
Aha! Moments from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
I love the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I have read the books and watched the movies countless times. [...]
Aha! Moments from Freedom from OCD
One of the things I love most about Freedom from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder by Jonathan Grayson, PhD is Dr. Grayson's [...]
Aha! Moments from The Onion
For as long as I can remember, I have personified my OCD and thought of it as an entity [...]
Aha! Moments from Glee
I grew up in the 80s, and with the exception of the "big hair" phenomenon, nothing defines that decade for [...]
Aha! Moments from The Emotional Life of Your Brain
My parents saw one of the authors of The Emotional Life of Your Brain, Richard Davidson, Ph.D., interviewed on Charlie [...]
Aha! Moments from Still Alice
During Brene Brown's ecourse, The Gifts of Imperfection, she once said, "Vulnerability is uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. Showing up [...]
Aha! Moments from Still Alice, continued
The pills Several days after Abby's passing, I was driving to work listening to Still Alice. Alice's memory was failing [...]
Aha! Moments from The Happiness Project
In November of 2012 on a flight home from a training given by the International OCD Foundation in Boston, I [...]
Aha! Moments from Wild by Cheryl Strayed
On no page of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail will you find any mention of OCD. [...]