April 2019

26 April 2019

Three Mindfulness Basics for Anxiety and Depression

Welcome back to another episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit Podcast.

Do you ever feel like you have to go back to basics?  Maybe you feel overwhelmed with all the “tools” and strategies you need to practice to manage your anxiety, obsessions, compulsions, and emotions.   Maybe you are feeling like you need to simplify your mental health practices so that you only have a few things to manage instead of many. 

If you are feeling this way, you are not alone.  I recently realized that I had to return back to some mindfulness basics and review the tools that helped me many years ago.   In today’s episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit, I talked about the 3 mindfulness basics for anxiety and depression that you must return to when you are struggling with anxiety, stress, life events, depression, and grief.  

In this episode, we talk about how we sometimes refuse to go back to the basics because we are afraid it means we are “going backward.”  We dispel this myth and address how these 3 mindfulness basics for anxiety and depression can recharge our mental health plan and practice.

If you’d like to learn more about mindfulness skills that I teach my face-to-face clients who struggle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), we have an online course available on CBTschool.com called Mindfulness School for OCD. Click HERE to learn more and sign up.

Before we go, I want to remind you of two wonderful upcoming events!  The TLC Foundation will host their annual conference on Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors from May 2-4 in Virginia.  Click HERE for more information and to buy tickets.  Also, the IOCDF Annual Conference will be held in Austin, Texas, from July 19-21.  I will be speaking at this event and love seeing you there!  Click HERE for more information and to buy tickets.

19 April 2019

Chris Trondsen Talks Rebuilding Life After OCD

Do you ever wonder what life will look like after OCD Treatment?  If so, this is the podcast episode for you!

We are talking all about the common emotions involved with the recovery process from mental illnesses such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Anxiety, and depression in today’s episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit Podcast. Many of you have asked for more episodes about the emotional side of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Anxiety, Depression, Eating Disorders, and Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRB’s), as well as what life is like after mental illness.   

In today’s episode, we talk with Christopher Tronsden on Rebuilding Life After OCD. In this episode, Chris Tronsden talks about his childhood of “confusion” about his symptoms and thoughts and how he was claimed to be a “difficult child.”    Chris Tronsden also talks about how he moved towards isolation after being wrongly diagnosed with other mental illnesses, and resultantly survived a suicide attempt.   Chris shares the emotions he experienced after this suicide attempt and how it led him to finding the correct treatment for OCD (Exposure and Response Prevention) and moving towards Rebuilding life after OCD Treatment. 

What I loved the most about Chris’ story is how beautifully he explains and articulates the process of building up the courage to perform Exposure and Response Prevention and then having to manage the painful experience of anger and loss after his OCD treatment. Chris Trondsen explains how he had to have some difficult conversations with loved ones and himself before he could turn his battle into something that was meaningful.  

Chris ends the podcast episode with a beautiful message of hope for those who are at all stages of treatment and recovery.  His message really does give hope to those who are embarking on the process of rebuilding life after OCD Treatment. 

Thank you, Christopher Trondsen, for a beautiful interview.  

For more information on Chris, visit:

IOCDF SoCal: https://ocdsocal.org/about-us/board-of-directors/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/christrondsen?lang=en

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christrondsen/?hl=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChrisTrondsen

Email: christrondsen@gatewayocd.com

12 April 2019

Dr. Jed Siev Talks Religious (scrupulosity) and Moral Obsessions

Welcome back to another episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit Podcast. Today, I am so thrilled to talk with you about Religious and Moral Obsessions.  In this episode, I was honored to talk with Dr. Jed Siev.  Dr. Jed Siev is an Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at Swarthmore College and is skilled in treating Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), specifically Religious and Moral Obsessions.  Religious and Moral Obsessions are very common among OCD sufferers and I am so thrilled to share with you.

I was able to take some questions from followers on Instagram (@kimberleyquinlan) for this episode and Jed Siev did such a great job of bringing compassion, skill, and research into the conversation.  

Here are some of the questions we addressed in the interview:  

What is scrupulosity? 

What are the common obsessions and compulsions for Religious (scrupulosity) and Moral Obsessions? 

How does Scrupulosity differ from Moral Obsessions? 

What does treatment for Religious (scrupulosity) and Moral Obsessions consist of? 

Does treatment for Religious and Moral Obsessions differ for different common religions? 

The below questions from listeners are addressed:

Is it helpful to involve a member of clergy when treating religious OCD?

Is it common to question whether you are a good person or just do a good thing to prove you are a good person? 

How do you practice acceptance of thoughts and obsessions even if it feels so against your morals? 

When you struggle with religious (scrupulosity) and Moral Obsessions, how do you teach your younger child to pray? 

Why is there such a strong feeling of guilt attached to Religious (scrupulosity) and Moral Obsessions? 

How do you address the fear of doing things that are disloyal?

What to do if you keep judging your actions? 

What to do if you keep putting shame on yourself? 

Thank you for everyone who submitted these questions.  I am sure you will find this episode very, very helpful, as I learned so much from Jed Seiv.  

For more information on Dr. Siev, visit:

https://www.jedsiev.com/

https://www.swarthmore.edu/psychology/faculty-staff

EXCITING NEWS…OCDeconstruct is THIS WEEKEND!! OCDeconstruct is a free online conference designed to give those with OCD, and their loved ones, the information needed to understand key concepts related to the disorder so they can get a productive start on treatment. During the conference, six therapists will present on topics including intrusive thoughts, ERP, family dynamics, medicine and more. OCDeconstruct happens on Saturday, April 13 and will run about 4 hours.  

5 April 2019

Welcome back to another episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit Podcast. Today we have someone who is very dear to my heart: Catherine DeMonte.

Over a year ago, I had the privilege of joining a women’s group called an Abundance Group, run by Marriage and Family Therapist, Catherine DeMonte. Catherine was so inspiring to me and gave me some of the tools I needed to get me inspired and motivated to create CBTschool.com. That’s right you guys! Catherine was one of the people who stood next to me as I cultivated the seed of CBTschool.com.  For that, I am forever grateful.

In Catherine DeMonte’s abundant circles, I learned how to lead with love, not fear. While this was a concept I already knew, Catherine helped me to put this into play as I created CBTschool.com and created a life that lined up with my values.  Catherine has such a beautiful heart and a beautiful way of speaking in a compassionate and gentle way. In this interview, she delivers tools that will help you tap into the wonderful beauty of your heart and create a life you really want. She talks about love vs. fear. Catherine talks about what it’s like to lead with love vs. fear.

In this episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit, Catherine talks to us about being open to receiving love and health and compassion and support.  She shares with us some of her amazing tools that she has included in her upcoming book, Beep! Beep! Get Out Of My Way!

Catherine De Monte also talks about involving deep desire to the hard work that you’re doing with Exposure and Response Prevention and she teaches us how to practice grace and gratitude as we work towards our anxiety recovery. I very much love this episode and I hope you do too.

Lastly, I want to remind you about an upcoming event that I am thrilled to be speaking at: OCDeconstruct!  

OCDeconstruct is a free online conference designed to give those with OCD, and their loved ones, the information needed to understand key concepts related to the disorder so they can get a productive start on treatment. During the conference, six therapists will present on topics including intrusive thoughts, ERP, family dynamics, medicine and more. OCDeconstruct happens on Saturday, April 13 and will run about 4 hours.