Kimberley: My tummy already hurts from laughing too much. I’m so excited to have you guys on. Today, we are talking about thriving in relationships with OCD and we have Rev. Katie O’Dunne and Ethan Smith. I’d love for you both to do a quick intro. Katie, will you go first?
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Welcome back, everybody.
Alright, alright, alright. You may already notice the sound of my voice has shifted, the tone has shifted, and that is on purpose. Actually, I’ve never thought of this, but it’s true. I often show up when I’m ready to do a podcast. I sit in front of my microphone, I’m in front of my desk, I take a deep breath and I just talk to you from a place of centeredness and calm, gathering as much wisdom as I can. That is a part of what I’m bringing today. But my other hope is I want to shift the tone a little bit because that’s what you have to do when you’re addressing this particular topic, which is motivation during depression. We’re talking about how to get things done during depression. That’s what we’re here for today.
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Welcome back, everybody. Today we are talking about a topic that I commonly get asked as a clinician, I commonly get asked as an advocate for anxiety online and so forth, which is how to let go of intrusive thoughts. I think that this is such an interesting question because words matter.
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TALKING BACK TO ANXIETY
Welcome back, everybody. Today we’re talking about talking back to anxiety, and we’re really talking about the power of positive self-talk.
Now I know when it comes to this idea of talking back to anxiety, it can get somewhat controversial. In fact, even talking about this idea of positive self-talk can be controversial, and I will be the first to say there is nothing worse than when you’re struggling with something that’s really painful. People say, “Oh, just be positive.” That is not what we’re talking about here today. In fact, I have a personal twist on how I like to consider a positive self-talk. You probably have heard me talk about it before, but I felt like it was time for me to revisit these concepts that I find so incredibly powerful when it comes to talking back to anxiety, or being positive, staying positive, engaging in some form of positive self-talk.
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.
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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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.
“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’.
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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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.
