The OCD Stories

In episode 542 I chat with Blakely Hunze-Austin. Blakely is a licensed professional counselor in the states of Colorado and Tennessee. She obtained her master's degree in clinical mental health counseling with a concentration in addictions. She's a nationally certified counselor who specializes in sex therapy, eating disorders, trauma, and OCD. She enjoys working with LGBTQIA, kink, and poly/ENM communities. She is completing hours to become a certified sex therapist and is trained in psychedelic-assisted therapy. We discuss her therapy story, OCD and sex, anxiety around sex and intimacy, redefining the meaning of sex, vaginismus, some particular OCD worries around sex, sensate focus sex therapy, disgust around sex, neurodiversity and sex, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/blakely-542 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

In episode 540 I interview Alex Habens. Alex is a BABCP Accredited CBT Therapist, Clinical Supervisor and OCD Specialist. He also works with myself at The Integrative Centre for OCD Therapy. We discuss why he became a therapist and his own OCD experiences, what is compassion focused therapy (CFT), compassion more generally, integrating CFT into OCD treatment, shame, connecting with compassion, fears blocks and resistances to compassion, compassion during exposures, his CFT therapy group, and his CFT therapist training he is running, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/alex-540 His CFT for OCD (Integrating Compassion Focused Therapy for OCD) training for therapists: https://www.icocdtraining.co.uk/ The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

In episode 538 I chat with Dr Ronald Nicholson. Ron is a clinical psychologist. We discuss why he doesn't use somatic and sensorimotor OCD labels interchangeably, why he likes the label of sensory OCD, core fear vs the content, the idea of taking the B grade, the obsessions and compulsions around this theme, using exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP) on this theme, exposure scripting, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/ron-538 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

In episode 536 I chat with Dr. Fugen Neziroglu. Fugen is a board-certified cognitive and behavior psychologist and the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Bio Behavioral Institute in Great Neck, NY. Fugen has published more than 150 papers in scientific journals and authored or co-authored 15 books. We discuss her rich background in the field of OCD, being mentored by the late Dr Edna Foa, the dosage of therapy, when to level up care, some of the earliest signs once a week therapy isn't working for someone, intensive outpatient programs (IOP), residential treatment, inpatient treatment, medical treatments, what an IOP should look like, adapting the IOP to the clients timeframe. We then discuss overvalued ideation (OVI), low insight, the need to deal with OVI to improve treatment effectiveness, motivational interviewing, shame, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/fugen-536 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

In episode 534 I chat with Rachel Kuchem Woodward (LCSW). Rachel is the owner of Re-Viving Lives Counseling, in Fort Worth. Rachel is a therapist holistically and clinically treating girls and women since 2019. Having her own 20+ year personal journey with OCD, Rachel is passionate about treating sufferers of OCD and educating faith circles on OCD, bridging the gap between biblical and clinical circles around this topic for clients, church leaders, and mental health leaders. We discuss her therapy journey, how OCD can latch on to faith, telling the difference between a genuine faith based question and an OCD question, how pastors and churches can help, scripture and OCD, moving towards values, exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), addressing shame in therapy, bringing in family members, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/rachel-534 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

In episode 532 I chat with Dr Sorcha O'Connor. Sorcha is a neuroscientist and PhD graduate from Imperial College London, where she led the PsilOCD study investigating low-dose psilocybin for OCD. We discuss Sorcha's background that led her to this work, what is psilocybin, the background to the study, what the actual study looked like for participants, the outcomes of the study, what's happening in the brain during a dose of psilocybin, future studies, how psychedelics may improve learning, integration sessions with a therapist, what people with OCD can take from this study, limitations of the study, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/sorcha-532 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

In episode 530 I chat with Amy who has kindly agreed to share her OCD story with us. We discuss relationship themed OCD, harm themed OCD, contamination themed OCD, realising that what was going on was OCD, compulsions, disordered eating, how her husband helped, finding the OCD community, doing exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), medication, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/amy-530 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

In episode 528 I chat with Jeff Bell, a past guest of the podcast. Jeff is a long time OCD advocate and is the author of "When in doubt, make belief" and "rewind, replay, repeat". Jeff co-founded adversity to advocacy. We get a recap of his OCD story, the idea of greater good motivation, lessons OCD has taught him that helps him deal with other conditions such as his Parkinson's disease diagnosis, we discuss stoicism, advocacy and service, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/jeff-528 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

In episode 526 I chat with Mike who has kindly agreed to share his OCD story with us. We discuss sexual orientation themed OCD, existential themed OCD, somatic themed OCD, harm themed OCD, compulsing around the recovery process, getting therapy, working with Dr Steven Phillipson and Dr Michael Alcee, words of hope and much more. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/mike-526 (Episode includes explicit language) The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

In episode 524 I chat with Ray Kolke. Ray is a licensed mental health counsellor (LMHC) who works with people affected by OCD and anxiety. We discuss his therapist background, why he doesn't ask his clients how they are feeling at the start of the session, he discusses not focusing on feelings in more detail, rumination, his tool of rumination by the numbers (RBTN), he breaks down this tool, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/ray-524 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

In episode 522 I chat with Lauren Rosen, LMFT. Lauren is a therapist and founded the Center for the Obsessive Mind, an outpatient clinic serving individuals in California, Florida, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania and select other states and countries. Lauren is the author of The Mental Compulsions Workbook for OCD. Lauren also hosts the Purely OCD Podcast. We discuss her Mental compulsion workbook for OCD, what are mental compulsions, rumination, noticing mental compulsions, some skills for addressing mental compulsions, mindfulness, attention, mindfulness meditation, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/lauren-522 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter

In episode 520 I chat with Brad Hufford. Brad is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW-C) who specialises in working with OCD. He is a therapist at the Behavior therapy Center of Greater Washington. We discuss Brad's OCD story, being a therapist over the last 30 years, exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), the therapy relationship, the idea of functioning well despite distress is still a victory, motivation in ERP, words of hope and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/brad-520 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter