Thank god someone else with OCD! I have also tried CBT and it helped a little bit in terms of compulsions but not with obsessions, which is what I'm having an extremely tough time dealing with right now. I tried some normal talking counselling about 2 months ago but right away I felt like the therapist wasn't for me. I reached out to another therapist about hypnotherapy as I had been recommended this for OCD (I'm extremely lucky to have health insurance with my job so the cost isn't holding me back, and I'm willing to try anything, as woo-woo as it might sound). I was told hypnotherapy wouldn't be suitable for video call sessions which obviously is all we can do right now, and I was recommended EMDR instead. I'm 5 sessions into EMDR and I haven't noticed any difference yet except that I may feel worse. I'm an emotional rollercoaster and crying everyday. If anyone can help me with any similar experiences I would be so grateful.I had years of CBT and it didn’t help, goodness knows why I kept it up and paid a fortune - it helped my anxiety slightly but didn’t help my primary OCD, irrational thoughts etc. I then decided to pay £85 per hour to see an actual doctor of psychology rather than £45 an hour to a few different ladies who had probably gained a diploma online and it was life changing. I did ACT therapy - Acceptance & commitment therapy and I’ve never been better, I’ve no symptoms of my OCD. 3 years since I last saw my therapist and I’ve got the tools and complete understanding of my mental health to control it. Russ Harris writes a book called the happiness trap, really simple way to understand it, I read it together with Eckhart Tolles The Power of Now and it really accelerated my progress!
CBT is a solution focussed therapy, so it won’t delve into your past relationships. It’s very focussed. Relational talking therapy will help you explore past relationships and how these may influence your behaviours and experiences in the present.I've had CBT before. It worked I guess to help me change my behaviours and my therapist really made me feel like I was worth more than I felt. Once it finished though I struggled keeping up with the exercises. My only problem I had with it is we didn't really discuss what could have caused my problems, not my childhood or anything.
I was the same, about 6 years ago I got to a point where I cried constantly, I was scared of strangers, being alone, I would scream into pillows you name it. I was frantic, anxious and depressed. My obsession at the time hooked onto my relationship with my boyfriend, was a constant “you don’t want to be with him” and a constant overanalysing everything he did. The most distressing thing was that deep down I knew I wanted to be with him but my mind was saying something way different. It was moments where my boyfriend had, had enough that I would gain clarity and I’d be able to see clearly, but that was temporary.Thank god someone else with OCD! I have also tried CBT and it helped a little bit in terms of compulsions but not with obsessions, which is what I'm having an extremely tough time dealing with right now. I tried some normal talking counselling about 2 months ago but right away I felt like the therapist wasn't for me. I reached out to another therapist about hypnotherapy as I had been recommended this for OCD (I'm extremely lucky to have health insurance with my job so the cost isn't holding me back, and I'm willing to try anything, as woo-woo as it might sound). I was told hypnotherapy wouldn't be suitable for video call sessions which obviously is all we can do right now, and I was recommended EMDR instead. I'm 5 sessions into EMDR and I haven't noticed any difference yet except that I may feel worse. I'm an emotional rollercoaster and crying everyday. If anyone can help me with any similar experiences I would be so grateful.
My second therapist focused heavily on why I was the way I was, it actually made me really angry as a person. I started resenting people and it gave me a false sense of entitlement that people were to blame so my issues were all their fault. My last and most successful therapist who was a clinical psychologist told me to focus less on why I was the way I was and more on here and now. She said that I had developed a blame game attitude and being so stuck in the past wasn’t going to help my future.I've had CBT before. It worked I guess to help me change my behaviours and my therapist really made me feel like I was worth more than I felt. Once it finished though I struggled keeping up with the exercises. My only problem I had with it is we didn't really discuss what could have caused my problems, not my childhood or anything.
Thanks so much for this reply, I really appreciate it! I have been coming across this Acceptance and Commitment therapy a lot and it's sounding better and better. I'm still not seeing any benefit come of the EMDR I'm doing, even though I get on with the therapist really well. I think I'll finish out this EMDR and then give ACT a go. I 100% went through that same sort of Relationship OCD about a year ago with my partner and it was hell -constant doubt if I should be with him or not, and confessing this to him which was really unfair. I'm currently going through a battle with my thoughts and emotions - I can say to myself that my thoughts aren't me but my emotions do feel like me and I can't help but attach meaning to them. Currently I've been enduring a months long obsession about my ex and I get horrible sadness about it and it's a constant loop I can't get out of. I've always had a difficult time of letting go of things, accepting and moving on so sounds like ACT is for me. I'll also give the 4-7-8 breathing techniques more of a proper go during my hysterical crying lol.I was the same, about 6 years ago I got to a point where I cried constantly, I was scared of strangers, being alone, I would scream into pillows you name it. I was frantic, anxious and depressed. My obsession at the time hooked onto my relationship with my boyfriend, was a constant “you don’t want to be with him” and a constant overanalysing everything he did. The most distressing thing was that deep down I knew I wanted to be with him but my mind was saying something way different. It was moments where my boyfriend had, had enough that I would gain clarity and I’d be able to see clearly, but that was temporary.
I knew instantly when a therapist wasn’t for me. And it’s always good to walk away, some therapists actually didn’t get me and made me worse. Standing up for yourself and walking away is so important.
I think for purely obsessional OCD acceptance & commitment therapy is really helpful. It helps to understand in your own time that your thoughts and obsessions aren’t actually you, it’s an automatic thing, just like breathing, that the sooner you stop being alarmed by the thoughts and accept them for what they are, good, bad or indifferent the sooner they will ease off and your mind will start to quiet. Russ Harris The Happiness Trap details this really nicely (the illustrated version is my favourite) it allows you to put distance between you & the thoughts in your head.
As mentioned previously, Eckhart Tolle The Power of Now is a super helpful book in describing why we are the way we are and how to help. I listened to the audiobook of this.
Another audiobook I listened to was Lost Connections by Johann Hari - he isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but my thought process completely shifted after listening to his book.
If you can I’d try find someone who specialises in ACT, it’s a worth a shot
Be kind to yourself, the 4-7-8 breathing technique helped me when my crying got out of control xx
My second therapist focused heavily on why I was the way I was, it actually made me really angry as a person. I started resenting people and it gave me a false sense of entitlement that people were to blame so my issues were all their fault. My last and most successful therapist who was a clinical psychologist told me to focus less on why I was the way I was and more on here and now. She said that I had developed a blame game attitude and being so stuck in the past wasn’t going to help my future.
If we focus too much on it, it becomes our story and we struggle to let it go.
I hope this doesn’t sound to preachy, just a little insight from my experience.
xx
Do you get the full session or do you mean you might be talking when the session has come to an end and the therapist lets you know your time is up?I know this might sound petty but I hate when I don’t get to use all the time I paid for essentially and god forbid I ever go over, just makes me feel like a number rather then a person and I get they have other clients but it’s kinda sneaky when therapists say “okay that’s all we have time for today” when you’ve paid for a full session. Any one else experienced this?
Usually I pay for a 60 minute session, and the therapist ends it at about 40 mins even though I’m always on time! A few times she’s been busy going to the toilet or doing her own stuff for a certain ammount of time and still ended it early rather then factoring her wasted time into account. Makes me feel like a number lolDo you get the full session or do you mean you might be talking when the session has come to an end and the therapist lets you know your time is up?
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