I’m trying a new routine with my psychologist lately wherein I do an email check-in after two weeks and come back into the office after four. When I first started going to this psychologist, I was on the once a week program. As I started to improve, we drew out the in-between appointments time a little more…
My psychologist in Seattle introduced me to the idea of “lifestyle” exposures, as compared to purposeful exposures. I might go in and say something like, “My son pooped his pants but I didn’t throw out the clothes he was wearing!” in an effort to show my progress. But things I can’t control (i.e., my son’s bowel…
While there are definitely a lot of important topics still to cover relating to OCD and Mormon life, I think it’s nice to take a break from all that for one day a week and do an update. If I were going to my psychologist, this would be similar to the first five or ten minutes of…
I used to work at a vintage clothing store. I also shopped at thrift stores, second hand clothes stores, etc. But then I went on a mission, came home, got married, and had kids. Somewhere along that path, I became more “normalized.” Maybe without me cognitively realizing it, the OCD also helped to steal away my…
Today I used a public bathroom at a park with my daughter. I probably could have waited (maybe) until I got home, but I thought it would be a good exposure. I did pretty well, too, until the hand washing. I used to have a hand washing compulsion. Like it could be upwards of fifty times…