“To escape fear, you have to go through it, not around.”

–Richie Norton

Do you avoid situations that others seem to do easily?

It makes sense as someone who is experiencing distress to avoid distressing situations. This is a natural human response to anxiety and not something to feel badly about. It is this avoidance that maintains the distress rather than reduces it.

An example of this anxiety behavior is when someone avoids public bathrooms for fear of being contaminated. This can become problematic when a need to use a bathroom occurs. It is unlikely that one would be able to go through life without the need to use the bathroom in public.

Do you engage in rituals that your brain has convinced you are necessary to avoid unwanted thoughts or likely consequences?

Is your brain telling you IF you do certain things THEN a feared outcome will not occur? Our brains often trick us into thinking there is a connection between invented rituals and an outcome. This connection does not exist.

For example, do you find yourself counting a specific number of times you wash each part of your hand, in a clockwise fashion, to make sure someone in your family doesn’t get sick. This is common and often leads to having difficulty getting out of the house on time.

When you bump your arm into a wall, do you feel compelled to bump the other side to make it ‘even.?’

This need to have everything ‘just right’ is a common experience for those suffering from OCD. Insisting on things matching or making them even seems to initially reduce distress; however, it furthers the belief that this is the way it is supposed to be. Again, this can lead to expending unreasonable amounts of time and energy on ritualizing with no connection to outcome.

Your mind’s fundamental job is to protect you. When you struggle with OCD, your mind works overtime. It tricks you into thinking you are in danger, even when you are not.

Thoughts that appear to protect you can lead to avoidance and compulsions. In these situations, your brain FALSELY makes you believe to not have harm befall you or your loved ones, an unnecessary set of steps needs to take place. This can lead you to GET STUCK within your ritual which is very time consuming and ultimately does not lead to an decrease in distress.

There are many types of OCD with some of the most common ones we see in treatment listed below.

Harm OCD: Aggressive, intrusive thoughts of doing violence to someone (most likely lovely ones). This type of OCD makes the individual feel that they can’t trust their own mind.

“Just Right” OCD: Constantly obsessing that there is something that doesn’t feel right or is incomplete. For example, an obsession could be a person feeling that their body doesn’t feel quite right or clean when washing.

Contamination OCD: Fear of contamination, sickness, germs, etc. People with this type of OCD are overly terrified that they might become contaminated by germs or get sick.

Relationship OCD: Those with this type of OCD constantly question their romantic relationship. They are consumed with doubts and often question their attraction, love, and compatibility to their partner, as well as their partner’s love for them.

Religious OCD (Scrupulosity): Sometimes OCD intrusive thoughts manifest themselves with themes of religion. They worry that whatever they do, they are violating God’s word and cannot fulfill the needs of the religion. This fear is irrational and causes much distress.

Sexual Orientation OCD: Constantly questioning their sexual orientation. Straight men and women have intrusive thoughts about being attracted to people of the same sex. Gay men and women may have thoughts about being attracted to people of the opposite sex.

These are only some of the various themes we see in our patients struggling with OCD symptoms. If any of this sounds familiar… you are not alone. We see these subtypes and know how to help.

You’ve done the difficult thing.

The behaviors you have been engaging in appear to be ‘fine’ on some leve,l but you recognize that the thoughts and rituals may be getting in the way of living your life. You might have been doing these things for so long they seem to be incorporated into who you are.

Take a moment to imagine what it would be like to be without your OCD. It feels freeing, doesn’t it? You don’t have to live like this. There is a whole world out there, waiting for you. Stop letting OCD control your thoughts and actions.

We know it’s hard – changing the way you think and act.

Trust us… it’s worth it! You’re worth it!

Fortunately, OCD is highly treatable for both adults and kids. All you have to do is take the first step and ask for help.

It’s called Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), a therapeutic and strategic way of facing your fears and challenging those dysfunctional thoughts that cause avoidance behaviors.

Here’s how it works…

You and your therapist will develop a list of things you find most challenging to do, or avoid doing, because of your OCD.

Each item on this list will be rated, depending on how much anxiety it provokes for you.

We’ll then develop a “fear hierarchy” so that you can systematically tackle and gain control over each item.

By leaning into this fear-inducing behavior, you will be able to show yourself that you were not actually in danger.

You will move to the next step on the hierarchy only after having mastered the previous item. This will move at YOUR pace.

With each item mastered, you will feel empowered and successful in gaining control over your OCD.

An example of a hierarchy involving Contamination OCD, might include steps such as:

• Touching door handles in home
• Touching toilet seat in home
• Leaving bathroom without washing hands
• Preparing food without washing hands
• Touching public door handle
• Touching public toilet seat

The items of this hierarchy would be tested from least to most distressing. The patient would not proceed to the next item until a rating of 0 is maintained for multiple trials.

Once you learn how to master the hierarchy items, you will be able to tackle all types fears – even those that are NOT listed in your hierarchy!

Treatment of your OCD might seem daunting. There is no question there is hard work ahead.

The idea might seem so scary that you would rather stick with these intrusive thoughts and rituals. This is your brain, tricking you again.

This is a normal emotion when hard work and change are on the horizon.

We will guide you and be beside you, every step of the way.

The rewards ahead are well worth the process.

Your OCD doesn’t have to control you. Now is your chance to live a life without irrational fear!

The team at South Miami Psychology Group can help you overcome any type of OCD. Call us today: (305) 662-2686