Podcast/Blog

Treating OCD Without Medication (20 Tips For Succeeding in OCD Recovery)

A common question our clients ask is, “Can you treat OCD without medication?” And the answer is a resounding, YES!

Medication has its place, as we will explore in this article.

Yet the data shows that specific science-based methodologies are proven to be your greatest ally in OCD recovery and yield incredible results.

CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) combined with ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) can show a marked decrease in symptoms and an increase in quality of life in a matter of weeks.

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Sleep Anxiety Relief How to Get a Good Night's Rest

Sleep Anxiety Relief | Ep. 342

Welcome back, everybody. Today we’re talking about sleep anxiety relief. We’re talking about how to get a good night’s rest.

Oh, the beauty of a good night’s sleep. I can’t even tell you and I can’t even explain for me personally how much sleep impacts my mental health and my mental health impacts my sleep. Hence why we’re doing this episode today. 

For those of you who are new, my name is Kimberley Quinlan. I’m a marriage and family therapist in the State of California. I have a private practice. I am the developer of an online program called CBTSchool.com. I’m an author and I am the host of this podcast. 

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Living with the fear of ‘going crazy’ (A Common OCD Theme)

Those who suffer from anxiety disorders, such as OCD, often feel like they’re losing their mind or ‘going crazy’.

The fear of going crazy may even become the core obsession:

What if I’m losing my mind?

What if I snap and lose control?

What if I am having a mental breakdown?

What if someone finds out and I’m committed to a psychiatric ward?

Because of this, sufferers often feel like they’ve lost touch with reality, unsure about what’s real and what isn’t.

They have experienced extreme uncertainty about their thoughts and are tormented by the idea that if they were to lose control, the consequences could be tragic.

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Does OCD Make You Feel Like You’re A Bad Person? (Dealing With OCD Guilt)

“Am I a bad person?” is a common question many of our clients ask themselves. When battling with intrusive thoughts it is common to question everything including your morality, identity, and self-concept.

After all, OCD has frequently been named ‘the doubting disorder’.

  • Those doubts make you feel like a bad person for having those thoughts.
  • They make you feel like a bad person for not being able to control those thoughts.
  • They make you feel like a bad person because of the context of those thoughts.
  • They also make you feel like a bad person for not being to control your compulsions in response to that doubt.

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Ep 341 Acceptance scripts (with Jon Grayson)

Acceptance Scripts (with Jon Grayson) | Ep. 341

Welcome back, everybody. Today we are talking about Acceptance Scripts with Dr Jon Grayson. 

So happy to be here with you as we tie together our series on imaginals and scripts. Today, we have the amazing Dr. Jon Grayson and he is going to talk about acceptance scripts and the real importance of making sure we use acceptance when we’re talking about scripts and imaginals. I’m so excited to share this episode with you. I think it really does, again, tie together the two other guests that we’ve had on the show in this series. 

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Why do OCD Intrusive Thoughts Feel So Real (Should I be worried?)

The uncertainty of whether or not these intrusive thoughts are real is ultimately what allows OCD to thrive.

The truth is, living with this condition can be unbearable for the sufferer.

Every day, your mind is bombarded by intrusive thoughts that terrify you, thoughts that go against everything you value and believe in. 

These thoughts make you question your very identity, leaving you feeling ashamed and afraid. 

You desperately try to resist them, but they persist, gnawing at your sanity. It’s a suffocating fear that something terrible will happen if you don’t listen to these intrusive thoughts. 

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340 ERP Scripting with Shala Nicely

ERP Scripting (with Shala Nicely) | Ep. 340

Today we are talking all about ERP Scripting with Shala Nicely. Welcome back, everybody. We are on Week 2 of the Imaginals and Script Series. This week, we have the amazing Shala Nicely on the show. She’s been on before. She’s one of my closest friends and I’m so honored to have her on. 

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How To Stop OCD ‘What If’ Intrusive Thoughts

If you have OCD, ‘what if’ thoughts are a source of great torment and pain for sufferers.

Have you ever had a thought stuck in your head that gets stuck in a loop, going around and around… until it feels like you have no ability to think about anything else?

They seemingly come from nowhere and are often taboo, strange, downright bizarre, or disturbing in nature.

Almost everyone experiences these thoughts from time to time.

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339 Imaginals: “A Powerful Weapon” for OCD with Krista Reed

Imaginals: “A Powerful Weapon” for OCD with Krista Reed | Ep. 339

Welcome back, everybody. Thank you for joining me again this week. I’m actually really excited to dive into another topic that I really felt was important that we address. For those of you who are new, this actually might be a very steep learning curve because we are specifically talking about a treatment skill or a tool that we commonly use in CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and even more specifically, Exposure and Response Prevention. And that is the use of imaginals or what we otherwise call scripts. Some people also use flooding. 

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You Are Not Your Thoughts (Why This Matters in OCD Recovery)

‘You are not your thoughts’ is a term regularly used in OCD recovery. But for OCD sufferers who are tormented by intrusive thoughts that challenge their morality and identity (and feel so real!), it can be difficult to wrap their heads around this notion.

The common misconception here is that we ARE our thoughts.

Within the context of OCD, this belief is crippling and painful.

Sufferers are constantly invaded with disturbing, shocking, violent, and sometimes aggressive intrusive thoughts across a variety of content. Thoughts that make them wonder, “Who am I if I could think such a thing?”

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