A good therapist will be working to help you achieve your aims not theirs, so I think that it would ultimately be helpful if you were to share your views regarding your OCD and what you hope to get from the therapy, if or when that becomes necessary. Some of what you see as problems associated with a 'curing' mentality towards OCD are things that I have thought for quite a while and which I felt really alone with, so it is amazing to hear someone put them into words. I've often detected (not from my therapist or people close to me) but in some of the discourse around OCD more generally, a sort of blame towards the person who struggles to fully overcome OCD. Ideas such as the person being resistant, or not trying hard enough or not wanting to recover enough etc. I generally think that is deeply unfair view to hold about anyone with OCD who is attempting to free themselves from its grip. My OCD is predominately contamination and health based, and as you mentioned, my fears are not dissimilar from the things that non-OCD sufferers get concerned about. The difference being the intensity of the anxiety produced, the difficulty tolerating smaller levels of risk, and the persistence of the worries and associated anxiety even when I know that I don't need to be that frightened. The fact that covid does pose a genuine risk, therefore makes my OCD even more difficult to deal with. Basically the pandemic is my worst nightmare come true . I'm really hoping that you'll feel a good rapport with your new therapist and that she helps you find ways to loosen OCD's grip on your life and especially manage the difficulties caused by the current situation. I'll certainly be wishing you the very best and looking forward to hearing how it's all going.
Yeah, the literal thinking as a child caused me to, well when I heard about germs for instance, to go a full couple of years Never touching my food even after washing up. I'd use a lot of paper towel and utensils, but I don't have that kinda ocd as an adult, though there is avoidance, negative thinking, kringing, lol.
A good therapist will be working to help you achieve your aims not theirs, so I think that it would ultimately be helpful if you were to share your views regarding your OCD and what you hope to get from the therapy, if or when that becomes necessary.
Some of what you see as problems associated with a 'curing' mentality towards OCD are things that I have thought for quite a while and which I felt really alone with, so it is amazing to hear someone put them into words. I've often detected (not from my therapist or people close to me) but in some of the discourse around OCD more generally, a sort of blame towards the person who struggles to fully overcome OCD. Ideas such as the person being resistant, or not trying hard enough or not wanting to recover enough etc. I generally think that is deeply unfair view to hold about anyone with OCD who is attempting to free themselves from its grip.
My OCD is predominately contamination and health based, and as you mentioned, my fears are not dissimilar from the things that non-OCD sufferers get concerned about. The difference being the intensity of the anxiety produced, the difficulty tolerating smaller levels of risk, and the persistence of the worries and associated anxiety even when I know that I don't need to be that frightened. The fact that covid does pose a genuine risk, therefore makes my OCD even more difficult to deal with. Basically the pandemic is my worst nightmare come true .
I'm really hoping that you'll feel a good rapport with your new therapist and that she helps you find ways to loosen OCD's grip on your life and especially manage the difficulties caused by the current situation. I'll certainly be wishing you the very best and looking forward to hearing how it's all going.
Thank you 💟
Yeah, the literal thinking as a child caused me to, well when I heard about germs for instance, to go a full couple of years Never touching my food even after washing up. I'd use a lot of paper towel and utensils, but I don't have that kinda ocd as an adult, though there is avoidance, negative thinking, kringing, lol.