Podcast appearances and mentions of stuart ralph

Join your host, Nicole Morris, LMFT and Mental Health Correspondent, as she welcomes Stuart Ralph, host of one of the top OCD podcasts, The OCD Stories. It's the final week of OCD Awareness Month, which means Stuart is helping the fam by discussing the 4th cornerstone of awareness building: Advocacy. Stuart shares about his personal journey with OCD, developing The OCD Stories podcast available wherever you enjoy your podcasts, OCD camps and more! So join the conversation, and find out how you too can be an advocate for OCD Awareness!

Stuart Ralph is the host of the The OCD Stories podcast — a series that broke ground when it debuted in 2015. Stuart has interviewed almost 500 people for his show, but now we turn the tables and interview him. He talks about having his first intrusive thoughts at the age of 7, almost quitting the podcast, specializing in therapy for adolescents, and more. Don't miss this deep dive into Stuart's personal journey and professional insights!If you or a loved one is struggling with OCD, know there is help. Visit https://learn.nocd.com/YT to learn more.Note: This interview was filmed at the 29th Annual OCD Conference in Orlando.Show notes:0:00 Intro1:39 Stuart's lived with OCD since he was 74:10 OCD Stories podcast broke ground 6:57 What Stuart is up to now 8:05 Treating young people with OCD9:26 How Stuart uses his own experience to help those with OCD 11:50 How Stuart developed his podcast 15:56 What's next for the OCD Stories podcast 16:56 Balancing a career and everyday life while having OCD19:28 Recurring OCD themes Stuart hears on the podcast and while treating others 21:56 Stuart returning to the location where his OCD started 23:16 What people say to Stuart when they meet him 24:33 How Stuart found treatment for himself 26:48 OCD usually doesn't travel by itself 28:26 Managing crises with OCD30:50 How Stuart wants to be seen in 25 years 32:49 What does Stuart's “billboard” say?33:59 How does OCD affect someone's ability to love?Follow us on social media:https://www.instagram.com/treatmyocd/https://twitter.com/treatmyocdhttps://www.tiktok.com/@treatmyocd

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Stuart Ralph, from the podcast The OCD Stories to talk about his journey from OCD sufferer, OCD podcaster to therapist.We explore how treating kids and teens with OCD requires a different, more flexible approach. Stuart also offers some helpful tips on how to navigate the UK mental health system.Stuart Ralph's practice, Integrative Centre for OCD offers therapy to kids, teens and young adults regardless of where in the world they are located. To learn more go to his practice website here.Resources:Integrative Centre for OCDNICE guidelines OCD UKOCD ActionThe OCD Stories***This podcast episode is sponsored by NOCD. NOCD provides online OCD therapy in the US, UK, Australia and Canada. To schedule your free 15 minute consultation to see if NOCD is a right fit for you and your child, go tohttps://go.treatmyocd.com/at_parentingThis podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be used to replace the guidance of a qualified professional.Parents, do you need more support?

In episode 446 therapist Jonny Say and myself (Stuart Ralph) do a live podcast with an audience at the 29th International OCD Foundation (IOCDF) conference. We asked the audience for topics before recording, and then did our best to answer those topics live.  We discuss my full circle moment, Jonny's experience of the conference, perfection, hyper responsibility, how loved ones can look after themselves when supporting someone with OCD, and how loved ones can support their loved ones with OCD, just right OCD, Inference-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (I-CBT), and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/live-446  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 Thanks to all our patrons for supporting our work. To sign up to our Patreon and to check out the benefits you'll receive as a Patron, visit: https://www.patreon.com/theocdstoriespodcast 

How many times have you heard someone say “I'm being so OCD” to describe a random bit of preciseness or when they need to double-check something?Whether it's newspaper articles falsely linking OCD to violent behaviours, unhelpful social media memes that perpetuate mistaken concepts of “intrusive thoughts”, or the names of brands which trivialise the experience - misinformation, and perhaps sometimes active disinformation, about OCD remains rife.OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) is one of the world's most misunderstood mental health disorders. For a long time, it has been portrayed in the media as a personality quirk that has something or other to do with cleanliness. In fact, according to the World Health Organisation, it is one of the most disabling conditions on Earth. Whilst ‘contamination OCD' is the most common subtype, this strand of the condition is grossly mischaracterised by the media, who also ignore the fact that most forms of OCD have nothing to do with germaphobia.In this special collaboration with the OCD Stories podcast, Ellie and Will chat to Matthew Antonelli from the IOCDF, and Stuart Ralph, from OCD Stories, about the impact OCD myths can have on those with the condition - and what we can do to spread positive messages that encourage people to seek the help they need and deserve.LinksThe OCD Stories PodcastThe IOCDF's response to articles that appeared in the New York PostFollow @livelymindspod on X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and more at https://www.bio.link/livelymindsPlease note that this show does not constitute medical advice and is not a replacement for seeking professional help. You can find our more about the show and get signposting to support on our website anyamedia.net/livelyminds

Welcome to the first episode of SEASON 2 of Lively Minds!In this episode, we will be talking to Stuart Ralph who featured in what is currently our most popular episode of season 1, exploring OCD: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.Stuart is a counsellor and psychotherapist for children and young people, who has lived experience of OCD, is the co-founder of the Integrative Centre for OCD Therapy and host of the very popular OCD Stories podcast which we recommend you check out.In today's show, Stuart will be chatting to us about a strand of OCD known as “Pure O”. We'll be finding out what it is, why - despite its existence being contested, why the term has been embraced by so many within the OCD community.Follow @livelymindspod on X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and more at https://www.bio.link/livelymindsPlease note that this show does not constitute medical advice and is not a replacement for seeking professional help. You can find our more about the show and get signposting to support on our website anyamedia.net/livelyminds--Show Transcript--[music] W: Hello, my name is Will. E: And my name is Ellie. W: You are listening to Lively Minds, the podcast about mental health challenges that go beyond the ebb and flow of the everyday. E: The podcast that looks at how developing our understanding of mental health issues influences how we address them. W: In this episode, we will be talking to Stuart Ralph, who featured in what is currently our most popular episode of season one, exploring OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. [music ends] E: Stuart is a counsellor and psychotherapist for children and young people who has lived experience of OCD, is the co-founder of the Integrative Centre for OCD Therapy and host of the very popular OCD Stories podcast, which we really recommend you check out. W: In today's show, Stuart will be chatting to us about a strand of OCD known as Pure O. We'll be finding out what it is and why, despite its existence being contested, the term has been embraced by so many within the OCD community. Welcome back on the show, Stuart. S: Thank you for having me back on. I'm honoured to hear that it's the most popular episode! That's really flattering and great to be back on talking with you guys. W: Thank you. It's great to have you. E: To begin with, could you remind us, particularly for the benefit of people who aren't so familiar with it, how you define OCD? S: Yeah. So it's best just to break it down into the O and C. So obsession, compulsion. Obsession could also be named intrusive for, image, urge, impulse. Often they call it ego dystonic. It's against what we want. It's repugnant to us. That's why it's scary to the person. They don't want these thoughts and feelings, these sensations. they want none of it. They can come in different themes, sometimes called subtypes of OCD. It could be worried about physical contamination, emotional contamination, worrying about offending your God. You'd call that religious OCD, obsessively worrying about your romantic relationship, called relationship OCD. Worrying about sort of harming someone, hurting someone, killing someone. We might call that harm OCD. You could also have paedophile-themed OCD, which is where you're worried that you're a paedophile. And of course, people that have those worries, far from being a paedophile, they're deeply disgusted and scared by that thought. Because they're deeply disgusted and scared by that thought, they then do compulsions. Compulsions are any actions in our heads or in the outside world, like mental reviewing is a mental compulsion going over memories or facts and figures. Physical compulsions could be googling, it could be checking, it could be flipping a light switch on and off, washing your hands, hiding knives if you're worried about killing someone and the reason they do compulsions is to get rid of, remove, reduce, the thoughts and feelings. And then I just mentioned feelings, so that's not in the title OCD, but the feelings are really what fuels OCD so it's usually anxiety although it can also be guilt, shame, disgust you name it that also drives the OCD but it's more common that it's anxiety but I've worked with clients that don't really have much anxiety and it's mainly disgust or guilt is the driving emotion behind it. And quite often if we didn't have those, I say we, because I've experienced OCD, I talk a bit about my story in the first episode. When we don't have those feelings, it doesn't really matter if we have intrusive thoughts, obsessions, because they don't bother us. So there was a study done, it's probably over 10 years ago now, it was like 94 and 96% of people have intrusive thoughts. So that was general public that were questioned and I think the other, whatever it was, 6% was probably lying or just didn't realise it. But we all have that image if we stand too close to a train track our brain throws us on the tracks. Most of us have had that thought right? Or you're holding your kid and suddenly your brain throws your kid down the stairs. Not literally but in your mind. That's an intrusive thought, it's scary. Now, but if you're seriously anxious at the time of having that thought, that thought sticks around and it becomes more and more recurrent in your head and it will keep coming back and back and that's the OCD cycle and then we do compulsions and what the compulsions teach our brain is that this thought is, could be real, it could be a real danger, because it's a real danger I better do these safety behaviours or compulsions, but that just reinforces the cycle and teaches our brain we should be afraid of these thoughts therefore we end up doing more compulsions because we're more anxious, so it's this vicious cycle of OCD and it really keeps people trapped. The last thing I say about it is these thoughts are so far fetched often, they're so far out there. You know just because I had a thought about let's say Jesus in some kind of sexual way and if I'm a Christian, I might get super worried about that, of course I don't want to do anything sexual to Jesus, but because I've had that thought I'm now obsessed worried about it and can't stop thinking about it, praying compulsively. That's just teaching my brain the thought could be real and I get stuck in this cycle. But it's just far-fetched, right? E: Thank you. That's really thorough, today we're going to talk about something called Pure O which I wasn't too familiar with until we spoke to you and Will told me about it after the first episode you did with us. So what is Pure O and how does it differ from more traditional understandings of OCD? S: Yeah, so Pure O is, is highly contested and arguably a bit controversial, which we'll talk about in a bit, but its, it means purely obsessional, right? So the assumption is there are no compulsions. Now that is the problem with the wording of Pure O, because there's always compulsions. But the compulsions for people with Pure O are mainly in their head. So they're doing compulsions in their head as opposed to the physical world. That's not entirely true, and I'll share that in a bit when we talk about maybe the issues with the term of Pure O, but in theory it means compulsions are in the mind, not in the physical world, so I'm mainly doing compulsions like checking memories or making lists in my head or saying words in my mind to counteract the thought. It's those sort of things and it's also a word for, that could be called rumination. We all ruminate but with OCD it's very prevalent. I could just call that seriously overthinking. So that's where it, it got its name. Now it was coined by Dr. Steven Phillips and he's been on my show like 10, not 20, 10 to 12 times and he coined the term in 1988 because he was seeing a lot of clients come through his practice who didn't seem to have any physical compulsions, were having these intrusive thoughts often quite taboo intrusive thoughts like violent sexual intrusive thoughts, and they were being missed in the research. So he coined the term to try and bring them into the term OCD. Now they were always OCD but they were getting missed by other therapists and researchers because they didn't seem to be washing their hands or checking things over and over again in the real world. So that's where Pure O came about and it's been a very useful term because it's helped people find others who don't seem to have many physical compulsions. So it's helped them find a tribe and again I think we'll talk about that later. But yeah, in short, it's just where there's not any physical compulsions or many and it's mainly mental compulsions but the issue with the wording is purely obsessional to anyone outside would say well that means there's no compulsions because it's purely obsessional right? if we'd be very anal about it and that's why a lot of, not a lot, there are therapists and researchers out there who hate the term. And there are many therapists that actually like the term for the reasons I've said that it's helped people find a tribe. So it's a real, it's a problematic term, but it also has had a lot of uses over the years, good uses, and has helped a lot of people feel understood. But yeah, just that misconception of, if anyone says they've got Pure O and they don't do compulsions, lie, unintentional lie, they are doing compulsions, just mainly in their head. W: Yeah, as ...

We are honored to bring you a conversation with Stuart Ralph, host of The OCD Stories podcast.  Stuart founded The OCD Stories podcast in 2015 to improve the lives of those with OCD. He holds a masters degree in psychological therapies from the University of London, Queen Mary and a masters degree in integrative child and adolescent counselling and psychotherapy from the University of Roehampton. He works in private practice as a child and adolescent counsellor and psychotherapist in the UK.  In this episode, Stuart graciously shares his personal experiences with OCD, from his first childhood intrusive thoughts, to dealing with an OCD relapse as a new therapist. We discuss why Stu chooses to practice as an integrative therapist, and how he uses modalities including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion-Focused Therapy, and psychodynamic approaches alongside Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). 

Will and Ellie chat to therapist and fellow podcaster: Stuart Ralph about what is perhaps one of the most misunderstood of all mental health conditions: OCD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.Often misrepresented in popular culture as a ‘personality quirk', OCD is in fact a potentially debilitating illness in which the sufferer feels compelled to reduce the anxiety caused by 'intrusive thoughts' through a cycle of further thoughts or actions. However, such ‘compulsions' only feed these intrusive thoughts (or ‘obsessions') leading to a vicious cycle that is difficult to escape. Contrary to popular belief, most people with OCD are not obsessed with germs, and even ‘contamination OCD' (which is nevertheless the single most common subtype) is often misrepresented in the media.Stuart discusses his own experience of OCD, what OCD actually is, why there is so much misunderstanding about it, unhelpful portrayals of OCD on social media and on TV, and the types of therapies that can help people with OCD to get better.You can access a full transcript of the episode here.Check out Stuart's fantastic podcast: The OCD Stories at https://theocdstories.com/Find out more about the Lively Minds podcast at https://anyamedia.net/livelyminds

Led by people with lived experience, Lively Minds is a UK-based podcast about mental health challenges that go beyond the ebb and flow of the everyday.Hosts: Ellie Page and Will Sadler present a show that is less about how we deal with our mental health problems, and more about how we understand them in the first place.In our first season, we will be talking with Clinical Psychologist Karen Lowinger about High Functioning Mental Health problems, therapist and fellow podcaster Stuart Ralph about one of the most misunderstood of all mental health conditions: OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Professor William Tov about the definition of 'happiness', Jake Dunn about men's mental health groups and the responsibility of communities to look after one another's mental wellbeing, Dolly Sen about whether ‘mental illness' even exists and Rabbi Robyn Ashworth-Steen about how mental health intersects with spirituality and gender.To find out more about our show and for signposting to mental health support visit www.anyamedia.net/livelyminds

Welcome to Proper Mental episode 97 with Stuart Ralph, who is a counsellor and psychotherapist for children and young people. He is also the host of the OCD Stories podcast, a weekly podcast where he interviews some of the best minds in OCD recovery. Stuart started to experience OCD at the age of 7 and his own journey of recovery would eventually inspire the OCD Stories podcast and his role as an advocate. In 2018 he was awarded the Hero award by the International OCD Foundation and his podcast has over 4.5 million downloads and counting. Stuart and I chat about OCD, all its forms and how it affects people.  We also chat about the different types of help, support and therapy that are available for people who suffer. We talk about his own experience as a child with OCD and the impact it had on his life and we chat about his work as a psychotherapist and counsellor. You can learn more about Stuart and his podcast via the website home - The OCD Stories and you can listen in all the usual places! Connect with him on Twitter or Instagram @TheOCDStories or Facebook The OCD Stories | Facebook You can catch up with me at www.propermentalpodcast.com or connect with me via social media @propermentalpodcast. If you would like to support Proper Mental by buying me a virtual coffee, please go to www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental Another way to support is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from! If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

This is Your Anxiety Toolkit - Episode 301. Managing OCD Relapse (with Jazzmin Johnson)  Welcome back, everybody. I am covered in goosebumps. I literally, as we speak, just finished the recording of this episode. I wanted to come on and do the intro right away just because I'm so moved by this week's guest. This week, we had Jazzmin Johnson. She's a mental health advocate and she came on to talk about something she felt really, really passionate about, which is relapse, particularly related to relapse with anxiety disorders, even more particular and specific is with OCD. And she brought to the conversation the same struggles that I have seen my patients have over and over with relapse and how hard we can be on ourselves when we relapse and how difficult it can be to pull ourselves out of relapse. It's a topic that I haven't touched on nearly enough. And so, I'm just so grateful for her to come on and share her story and the steps she took to overcome any kind of relapse that she was experiencing, and identifying the difference between a lapse and a relapse I thought was really profound. I'm just so excited to share this episode with you. I actually had scheduled it to be out much later and I'm like, “No, no, no, we just have to get this out. This is so, so important.” So, I'm so thrilled. I'm not even going to do an “I did a hard thing” because this whole episode is Jazzmin explaining to us how to do hard things. So, I'm again impressed with how she's handled it. So, let's get straight to the show. I love you guys. I hope you can squeeze every ounce of goodness out of this episode. I think the main real message we took away is it's a beautiful day to do hard things. So, enjoy the show. Kimberley: Welcome, everybody. I am so excited to have a special guest on the show that I've actually been wanting. We've been talking back and forth. I'm so excited to have Jazzmin Johnson on today. Thank you for being here, Jazzmin. Jazzmin: Thank you so much. I'm absolutely honored and really, really excited to chat. Can OCD Relapse?  Kimberley: Yeah. So, let's dive in. We are going to talk about relapse, which is a topic I think you brought to my attention. I have not covered barely at all. So, let's dive into that. But before we do that, can you give us a little background and fill us in up to where we're at with relapse? Can OCD Relapse?  Jazzmin: Yeah, absolutely. So, my name is Jazzmin. I'm 28 years old. I was diagnosed with OCD when I was just freshly 23. So, it's been a while. Looking back on my life, I've had OCD for a very long time, long before I was 23. So, definitely fun to look back on your life and the moments and say, “Oh, that was an interesting behavior and no one really caught that.” My story is I always love to tell it, but it started off with a really simple night of not sleeping, something that we think we've all experienced. And up until that point, I had assumed I was this rock-solid girl who was tough and I skateboarded on the weekends and just knew that nothing could touch me. And I remember having a hard night of sleep one night and my heart was beating really fast and I just felt really panicky. It was such a bizarre feeling for me. I remember at the time reaching out to my sister who also struggles with anxiety and OCD as well, and I just said, “Hey, have you ever dealt with this weird heart palpitation thing at night and you can't relax?” And she just sent me a text in all caps and was like, “Yes, that's anxiety.” And I think it was just this bonding moment where we were just like, “Oh, okay, I guess I'm like you like. Let's do this.” But with that I think came a lot of fear too, because as someone who was assuming I was this rock-solid gal, who was tough and never stressed about anything, to have that identity switch that happened when I was told that I might have anxiety. As all of us know, listen to this, anxiety is a terrible feeling and it's even harder when it really sticks around for a long time. I remember feeling like my body was buzzing all the time and I remember trying to explain it to my boyfriend and he was just like, “That's really strange.” And I'm like, “You don't understand. My whole body feels like it's vibrating all the time and I just couldn't sleep at night.” And so, I ended up reaching out to my mom and she helped me find a therapist, which I'm really grateful that my family is really pro helping people with mental health disorders. So, they knew exactly how to help me. So, I popped in with a therapist and was just like, “I don't have anxiety. Why am I having anxiety? What's going on?” And she just asked me if there were things that made me anxious. And I just remember telling her, “No, there's no reason. My life is really good. I really enjoy where I'm at and I love my job and I love my boyfriend and I love my life. So, why am I feeling this way?” And she just said, “Well, have you talked to anybody about it?” And I remember telling her, “Yeah, my mom and my sister, and they've told me the things that make them anxious.” And so, now when I think about those things, I plan to be anxious in those scenarios too. And I just told her I was having a hard time figuring out what was causing this anxiety. And she just said-- I will remember these words forever because they started everything for me. But she said, “Maybe you just need to find yourself in all of this.” And so, I went home and was just like, “What does that even mean, how do you find yourself?” I was so lost. And at the time, I was thinking, okay, I'm 23 years old. What do I need to do? Do I need to eat, pray, love, and go to Italy and dump my boyfriend? And then that's when that thought popped in my head. And I thought, what if I need to leave my boyfriend in order to not feel anxious anymore? And of course, that terrified me at the time. I'd been with my boyfriend for five years. We were high school sweethearts. I knew in my bones I would marry him one day. And the idea that the only way out of how I was feeling was to lose something that I really valued was just life-shattering. And so, I just spent so much time thinking to myself, no, that can't be it. But OCD is the doubting disorder and I just hated this idea that what if that was the key to it all and it was something I didn't want to do. And so, I fought it and I probably struggled with that thought for another three or four months. I spent every day thinking about it the first time I woke up in the morning. And it got to a point where my body and my brain was trying really hard to convince me to leave because it wanted this relief from this anxiety. So, I was almost trying to convince myself and arguing with my mind on why I need to leave. And it would jump from maybe I didn't like the way he looked or he has a mustache this week and I don't like mustaches, so maybe I need to leave. Or his jokes are really bad. I can't be with someone whose jokes are bad. I mean, it's almost comical to the point where the things that my brain was trying to do to get me out of this scenario that felt like anxiety was ruling at all. I remember going to therapy every week, and my therapist just said, “You've been talking about this for a long time and it sounds like you might be struggling with some obsessive thinking, and it might be OCD.” And that crushed me because at the time, I thought of OCD as flicking light, switches on and off, and I did not know what it was and that it could look different. So, I just got really scared and she just said, “Nope, we're going to work through this. You're going to be fine.” And so, we did my first exposure in that appointment and it was absolutely horrible and it was so hard, but we sat down and we mapped out what my life would look like for the next five years if I chose to leave. My life looked great. I was like, “I would move. I would go to LA and become a fashion designer,” whatever I was into at the time. And she was like, “You'd probably be okay. So, why is this so scary to you?” And I just told her, “I just don't like this feeling of losing agency over my choices and feeling like anxiety was making those choices for me.” And that really made me spiral into a bit of a depression and just really struggled with feeling like I could do anything really. My therapist and I, we talked and I was prescribed antidepressant, which I owe my life to because that antidepressant gave me the strength to stand up against OCD for the first time in my life. And so, I started and I started just diving into the OCD community and listening to stories online, reading about it. Not just reading about people that were struggling, but people that had made it out or had worked through it and were doing really well. I just loved listening to specifically Stuart Ralph's The OCD Stories podcast and your podcast really. I just loved hearing people's stories about OCD, because I would listen to it on my way to and from work on my hour-long commute. And I would always smile when I was listening to these people's poor traumatic stories, just because I could hear how different our obsessions were, yet we were all doing the same thing. There were so many similarities that I heard and I just felt such a sense of community and belonging. And so, I just really dove into that and was like, “Hey, let's talk about this. Now, why isn't anyone talking about relationship, anxiety, and relationship OCD?” I reached out to Stuart Ralph and he let me post a little blurb on his website about what I was going through and that started my advocacy journey. And so, now I just float through life and deal with what it throws at me. And of course, I struggle at times. OCD will always stick around, but I try really hard to always have all of my social media channels open for people that just want to talk. And I find that's just such a good space to have for people when they just need someone to understand. So, that's a brief, little rundown of my life with OCD so far.  Kimberley: I had goosebumps for quite a bit of that. It's just like it gives me the chills in the best way and that you've gotten through so many bumps and windy corners and stuff. Then we come to here now. So, you've got this progression, this windy story and you arrive. And obviously, you're doing pretty well. Tell me about this idea of relapse and what that means to you. How to Deal with OCD Relapse Jazzmin: Yeah. So, I look at lapses and relapses, in my opinion, a little differently. So, of course, in my journey, I had a few lapses. There were things that life happens and stress trauma happens. A few instances, I was really unfortunate to be in a space at my work where someone chose to take their life. And I was not at work, but I walked in about two minutes after it happened, because it happened at my work. I didn't see anything, but just the feelings of the people around me just was really traumatic. And so, my OCD latched onto that for a while and that sense of safety that I felt and the fear of being in another instance or something else that would be traumatic. And of course, there's been other moments in my life where really wild, crazy things have happened. And my OCD does always find something to latch onto for a short while. But usually, I'm able to notice a behavior and feel like, “Oh, that feels familiar. Uh-oh, I think I might be stuck again,” and then I can usually spot it. But this last spring, I had a bit of a relapse and I call it a relapse more than a lapse because it looped back into my old themes that I had worked through a lot. And it lasted for a really long time. And I really had a hard time finding that kind of pathway out. I couldn't really find where on the cycle, the OCD cycle I was to where I could see where to get out. And so, at the time, I looked at relapses as failure and I think that's one thing I really wanted to talk about. But I imagined that since I had come so far in my recovery, that when OCD shows its face again, I would know that it was OCD. I would see it and I'd be ready and I'd have my warrior gear on and I'd fight it and I'd carry on with my life. I think this last spring, just with the chaos that happened in my life, I learned that that's not always the case. And sometimes it takes a little bit longer. But also, I think it always unlocks new layers to your recovery journey and healing that I think I needed to learn. So, I'm really grateful that it happened, which is so funny. I wish I could tell myself that four months ago and I was really in the thick of it, but yeah, I'm really grateful that I had that experience. OCD Relapse Story…or is that not the right wording?  Kimberley: Why do you think-- because I really resonate with what you're saying and I think I've had, even in the last couple of weeks, some clients who've come back to treatment after doing really well with ERP and therapy. Can you tell us your OCD relapse story? Why do you think we consider it a failure to relapse? Where did that come from, do you think? Jazzmin: I think for me, I hear a lot about in the OCD community of just this idea of being fighters and warriors and we're going into this battle. And once you've won the battle once, you feel not untouchable, but you just have that upper hand. And I think with every new theme that it throws at you, which it always will, it's something new and it might take longer to recognize that, oh, this is the same thing. But for me, it felt like I was just losing a game, losing a battle, and that I knew how to fight. And I always would use this metaphor with my therapist that I felt like I had my toolkit with all of the things I had learned over the years, all of the exposures I can do and scripts and stuff I can write, but it felt like it was in a toolbox that was locked. Like I had to find the key before I could get to that toolbox. And when you're feeling so terrible, you're frantically searching to find that specific key. And I just found myself fumbling. And so, I think that idea of failure comes from just knowing better too. I felt like I knew better. I know what OCD looks like. I know this cycle like the back of my hand, yet, somehow it sneaks into my life again. I don't realize it until either it's too late and I've been doing compulsions for months maybe. And that is always a real letdown just in your personal self-esteem, and your idea of where you were in recovery can sometimes shift. And that's scary because you think you're through it or you're better than that or that you know better. And then to find out maybe you were wrong, it's really hard to sit with. Kimberley: Yeah. It's an interesting reframe, isn't it? We think of being a fighter and getting through it as if you won the battle and the battle is over. It can be a massive dent to your self-esteem would you say? Or tell me a little bit about, did it shift your perspective of yourself being a fighter for a while or were you able to be like, “No, no, this is the work”? How was that feel? Jazzmin: I think it's a little different for me because at the time, I really considered myself an advocate. And I felt as an advocate, I guide other people and I help them through these things. And I remember a really specific moment with my husband after we had just met my baby niece for the first time. And the entire time we were visiting her, I was having intrusive thoughts probably every second and it was jumping themes. It was harm and then pedophilia and then harm again and harming myself. And I remember getting in the car with him as we left and just crying. And he just was like, “What's going on? Talk to me.” And I just told him, “I'm so tired. I know what this is. I had those thoughts. I knew they were OCD. I knew the moment they showed their face, because why would I ever want to do that to my beautiful baby niece?” And yet, they still made me anxious. And I had made the story to myself that if an intrusive thought made me anxious, I'd already lost. So, my reaction to it was the first thing I could control. And when you get thrown a new theme, it knocks you down because you've never seen it before and it's scary. I just remember crying to him and just explaining, “I am so frustrated with myself because I know what this is. I know what I'm doing and I can almost step outside of myself and see the cycle. I can draw it on a piece of paper. In fact, I did that often, and yet I couldn't stop.” It was just a lot of disappointment in myself. I think as an advocate, you feel like you should know better and I helped people through this. In fact, there were times when I was in that relapse that people reached out to me for help. And I strapped on my booth and helped them and walked, talked them through it all and found them therapists and then was like, “Why can't I do that for myself? Why am I so good at helping others and not giving myself the tools that I know are sitting right in front of me?” Kimberley: Yeah. I thought it was really interesting. You said like you were mad at yourself, or maybe I didn't use that word correctly, for having anxiety about your thoughts. Oh my God, when did the expectations get so high? What are your thoughts about that? Jazzmin: I have no idea. It's so funny too, because when I look back on the themes that I've always had, it's always been around feeling anxiety. I have a fear of feeling anxiety. And that first thing I had was, maybe this will get rid of my anxiety. So, all of my obsessions were what's the key to get rid of it. In fact, I often have an intrusive thought to this day that maybe my anxiety disorder is caused by the fact that I have hair and I need to shave my head to not feeling anxious anymore. And I have the best hair. I love my haircut. I have the best hair stylist, so I'm just like, “No, I don't want to shave my head.” Kimberley: You don't want to go all Britney Spears on yourself. Jazzmin: No. But it's so funny to me how that works and the way-- yeah, I lost my train of thought there because we were laughing about Britney Spears, but-- Kimberley: But no, I think going back to what I was saying is I think you're right. I think that we judge ourselves based on whether we're anxious about something, like, “Oh, I shouldn't be anxious about that.” But that's just our brain doing its thing. Jazzmin: I was holding a newborn baby that I was related to for the first time in my whole life. Of course, I'm going to be terrified. I'm going to throw her against the wall. That's a normal thing to feel really anxious about. But I think also when you're in recovery, there's a certain acceptance you have with anxiety. You learn that anxiety is going to be a part of my life and I'm going to accept it. And I'd always thought that I had done that. And then I remember doing ERP School this last spring. And you mentioned something about, I believe it's willingness versus willfulness. Is that what it is? Kimberley: Yeah. Jazzmin: And I remember feeling angry with you when you mentioned that because I knew you were right. And I was like, “No,” because that was that missing piece that I had yet to figure out. I was always like, “Yeah, I get that I'll have to feel anxious sometimes in my life. But I'm only feeling anxious and allowing myself to feel anxious because I hope that that will be the key to get rid of it.” So, it was just, that was always the way out. And for the first time, I had to realize that while I was allowing anxiety to happen, I wasn't really welcoming it in a way. And so, that was what unlocked that little portion in my head. Kimberley: Okay. So, I just have a question. The therapist/educator in me is like, tell me more – you obviously took ERP School – what is it about? And I'm so happy that that was helpful. But I want to know, because you're not alone. I love knowing when things make people mad because it means there's a roadblock there. There's a common human roadblock that we all get to. So, what about that made you mad? I'm so curious. Jazzmin: Yeah. I think in all honesty, it was a little bit of resistance because it was like, I knew that that was that next step and I really didn't want to do that. Everything that I've ever done was to get rid of my anxiety. Even my OCD, all of my research, and all of the exposures that I worked on was only to get rid of that anxiety. And at the beginning of every video, you talked about, you said, “Hey, if that's your goal, let's reframe that.” And I was just like, “How do I do that? How does someone want to feel anxious?” I just really struggled with understanding how-- it's such a terrible feeling. I hate it so much. How am I supposed to be happy to experience that? And I wasn't sure how to connect those two.  I also was always looking for someone to just tell me how, like to give me steps and just say, “Hey, this is how you become willing to be anxious, or the willfulness, this is how you do it.” I remember talking to my therapist about it and I just said, “Kimberley was talking about this, and can you just tell me how to do that?” I was like, “How do I lean in? Is that something I should just tell myself? Is it something I need to write down?” And she just said, “I think it's not something I can tell you. I think it's a little more abstract than that.” And I just said, “Okay. So, you can't give me a step-by-step on how to get out of this,” because that's how I am. And she just said, “No, I think it's a feeling.” It scared me more than it made me angry. And I think that's why it made me angry because I knew that that was what I needed to do. So, that anger really comes from fear of just knowing what's next and what I need to do. And it's something I think I've put off for a very long time. Kimberley: Yeah. Listen, this week alone, I've had multiple of these conversations with my clients. I think it's such a common roadblock for everybody. Like how often people who have recovered said, “When I stopped trying to not be anxious is when I actually got relief from my anxiety.” And it's like what you resist, persist, is always this sort of thing. Jazzmin: Absolutely. Kimberley: I love that you told me that. Number one, I'm terrible. I always giggle when people say that my stuff made them mad because I'm like, “What happened?” But I think it's such an important point, right? It's such an important piece of the work. So, how would you encourage people to manage relapse or lapse? Jazzmin: Yeah, I think I was really lucky to have my sister by my side through this relapse, especially if someone who understands OCD. And encouragement was a huge thing in having a support system because I had my husband, I had my sister, I have grown a community on Instagram of people that know I have OCD and I don't shy away from putting on my Instagram like, “I'm relapsing right now. Give me a minute. Let me figure this out.” And my comments are always flooded with like, “You got this. We believe in you. Hang in there if you need anything.” And so, I think that was a huge part of that healing for me, was just the support.  But I also think there's a huge part about self-compassion that fits into this, about allowing yourself the opportunity to stumble. And I think it gives us its humanity. We're going to fall and we're going to trip and that's going to happen. And also, life is not perfectly straight and boring where nothing bad ever happens. That's what makes life exciting. So, I think there's a big self-compassion piece to it all of just allowing yourself to be wherever you are. Kimberley: Is the self-compassion piece the work you'd, like you'd said, sometimes when we relapse? And I've had these conversations. It's like, “Oh, there's a layer of your therapy that you hadn't done, or that this is a good thing for your long-term recovery.” Was the self-compassion work you had previously done or did you have to take on the self-compassion once you realized you had relapsed? Jazzmin: Self-compassion was not at all a part of my previous healing and it was something that I was really missing. I bought your book too, The Self-Compassion Workbook. I wrote through when I was on an airplane ride once. And again, it also made me frustrated because I remember you had me write like how I felt about me if my OCD was flaring up or what I thought to myself about the fact that these intrusive thoughts were present. And all of the things that I wrote were really nasty about myself like, “Why are you thinking that? Even if I know everyone has intrusive thoughts, people don't have those ones or they don't make them feel the way that mine make me feel. So, I'm not strong enough or I'm not doing well enough or I'm not as well as I thought I was.” And so, self-compassion was that layer of my healing that I don't think I had reached yet but I think I really needed because again, I think I have that tough girl mentality and I want to be strong for everybody. And when it comes to doing that for myself, I fall short. So, I think it was really helpful to just learn, to give myself grace and to watch the way that I was speaking to myself when I was struggling and allowing myself to struggle, allowing myself to feel bad because that's life.  Kimberley: Yeah. I love that you had support. I love that you had those people cheering you on, like clapping their hands, “You can do this.” What would you encourage people to do if they didn't have that support? And in the same question, were you able to start to have that voice? Where you were like, “I can do it” and have that kind of coaching voice as well? Or was that not a part of your experience? Jazzmin: So, I think if anyone doesn't have that support, the first thing I would encourage them to do was to find the community online because that's how I mostly got that sport in the beginning, was just finding people that were struggling in a similar way. But also, I think a huge part of that self-compassion in your voice is to be that voice for yourself and to be an advocate for yourself in those moments. And so, yeah, I think there's a part of just doing it for yourself in a way. And there was a second part of that question you asked. Kimberley: No, no, you answered it beautifully, because I think that is a piece of it too, is I have found for myself and I could be-- you may not feel this at all or the listeners may not feel this at all, but a huge part of my self-compassion journey was instead of going to other people to cheer me on, I had to learn to do it myself. Not to say you don't deserve to go and get it. It's not a problem if they cheer you on, that's not a problem at all, but that was a huge piece of it. And I try to practice that with my patients as well, like can you cheer yourself on just a little, can you reframe that you're strong while you suffer kind of thing. I think there's so many reframes that we can make. Jazzmin: Yeah, absolutely. And I think back to the things that I did to encourage myself and I remembered one thing that I did is, I would have a full day of negative thoughts and negative intrusive thoughts and really struggling. And then maybe for two minutes out of that day, I would feel this overcome of like, “Hey, I got this. Wait a minute, I can do this.” And I'd always snap a selfie when I was feeling that. And so, over the course of this relapse, I have tons of these selfies and some of them I'm crying in and some of them I'm in the coffee shop or I'm in my car. And when I was really feeling down, I'd look back on that and I'd be like, “Hey, that's the version of me that's cheering me on right now.” And I would look back on those photos all the time and be like, “Hey, yesterday at 2:04 PM, I felt okay for a minute.” And even if it was just a minute, I'm going to trust that girl right there, because that's who I am. Kimberley: Wow. That's so cool. I love that. I've never heard that before. What an amazing way to capture you in that moment. I love that so much. Jazzmin: I think I put it in my phone, in my folders as reminders of hope. And I would look at those pictures whenever I needed it because I think seeing proof that you were there at one point too, it's like, that was me and I could be there again. Kimberley: I love that so much. I actually think that that's a piece of the tool belt or the toolkit that we need to have more of, like how can you remind yourself that you're in the game and you're doing the game. I love that so much. I remember many months ago, I did a podcast with Laura. I can link it in the show notes. She talked about, she did a collage of photos of her doing her exposures, even though she's crying or even though-- and I just think that's it, right? Just to remind ourselves that we've been there and we've gotten through it is so huge.  This goes back to the very beginning, but how do you-- is there a difference in how you respond depending on whether it's a lapse, your version of a lapse or a relapse? For you, is the response and the tools you use the same or is it different?  Jazzmin: I think for me the tools are about the same. I would almost say I use less tools in my lapses and that's always what causes them. So, I relax into this anxiety that I'm feeling and I let my guard down maybe a little bit and I start doing something. But generally, the way that I spot myself out of those cycles is to-- I quite literally will map out. I'm like, “What thought just made me anxious, and then what was my initial-- what did I feel like I needed to do to make myself feel better?” And then once I could take that step back, I could see what was going on. And I think my relapse was a little bit different because it reached that core fear of mine about feeling anxious forever or feeling like I wasn't going to get rid of it. And so, I think it was a little harder to find that exit of that loop because it was something that I was so deeply engraved in my being that I've had for so long that I don't think I ever really looked at. I always treated the surface of my obsessions and never really realized what is the core of this. It's feeling anxious. It's just this fear of anxiety. Kimberley: Yeah. And how are you doing now? Can you give me a realistic description on how to recover with OCD Relapse?  How to recover from OCD relapse Jazzmin: Yeah. I would say I'm doing really good right now. I'm actually 16 weeks pregnant. We found out we were pregnant back in May. And so, pregnancy is one big exposure because as someone who doesn't like not knowing the future and is not great with uncomfortable sensations, that is pretty much all this pregnancy has been. But I remember explaining to a friend like sometimes when you're pregnant, at least for me, I'll just have these waves of sadness. Nothing is making me sad. I'm actually having the best day ever, and I'll just have to go cry really hard for 10 or 20 minutes. And I was thinking to myself, this is something a couple years ago that would really scare me. I'd be really fearful of these feelings. And I have just come so far in my journey with anxiety and OCD that when I feel that way, I just surrender to it and I say, “Hey, babe, I'm going to go upstairs. Give me 10 minutes.” And I'll just go hang out in the bathroom and let it out and wipe my tears away and just allow that I'm going to feel that way sometimes and it's okay and I think so. So, right now, I'm doing really well and navigating, of course, pregnancy as much as I can as it's super new. And of course, I have a lot of fears about being a mother and when those intrusive thoughts will show their face again, when I'm holding my baby, which I'm sure they will. But I'm really leaning into this idea that the version of me that will make it through that will be born in that moment. So, there's nothing I can really do right now to make that intrusive thought not stick as much when it happens. All I can do is just trust that when it happens, if it happens in that moment, I'll gain whatever resilience I need to work through it. And there's a lot of self-trust that comes into that. And really trusting that I've got this and who knows, maybe I'll stumble and I am fully allowing myself the opportunity to do that. So, I think that's just been a big part of this journey for me, is allowing the unknown to just exist.  Kimberley: I love what you're just saying. In fact, I have had clients who've actually written invitations to OCD like, “I welcome you to my baby's birth,” or “I welcome you to my wedding,” and so forth. And so, I think that this is beautiful in sort of an insurance policy for relapses to say, “I'm inviting you to this big event,” which is what you're doing. Jazzmin: Yeah. It's like, “Let's join me. I know you're a part of my life and I want to see what are you going to throw at me. Let's do this.” Almost like, “Let's do this together. It's not a fight and I don't want you to go away, but I'm curious to see what you're going to bring to the table and I'm looking forward to seeing how I handle it, learning whatever I need to learn in that moment.” Kimberley: See, you have a lot of willingness. Jazzmin: Now I do. Kimberley: You have got it. I'm so grateful to have you on and to share your story. This is so good. So good. Tell me-- let's just wrap it up with like, okay, someone is in the depth of their relapse, they're the lowest of the low. What words of wisdom do you have for them? Jazzmin: Feel it. I think that's what I would say. I think when you're in those lows, you're always looking for that way out. And of course, naturally, you want a way out. There's no way you want to be there forever. But I think just really leaning into this idea that the only way out is through and just really feel what you're feeling and don't be scared of it, because I think fear really holds us back from a lot of healing. Kimberley: So beautiful. Thank you so much for coming on. Jazzmin: Thank you so much. It's so much fun. And I just want to say, I want to sing your praises for a minute. Your podcast and just you as a person are so kind, and I really found that just your content and just your presence was so comforting in the time of really darkness for me. And I think sometimes when you're going through OCD, you have a lot of people that have that fight mentality and they're like, “You got this. Just go at it, run at it.” And you just showed a level of gentleness in approaching that. And that was what really helped me find that self-compassionate voice. So, I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the things that you do and what you do on here. It's incredible. Kimberley: Oh, thank you. I'm covered in goosebumps. I can't tell you-- I say this every time, is when you're here talking to a microphone and no one's there, sometimes you don't really know who you're touching and I just love hearing that. Thank you, because it really means so much to me that I could be there without even knowing that I'm being there. So, it brings me just so-- Jazzmin: Sometimes you just need to know. You need someone to tell you like, “Hey, what you're going through is hard and it's okay that it's hard.” And I think that's something you've always done for people, that we can do hard things. Kimberley: We can. It's a beautiful day, right?  Jazzmin: Uh-hmm. Kimberley: Thank you, Jazzmin. You have been such an inspiration. If people want to follow you, where can they get ahold of you? Jazzmin: So, my Instagram is where I'm the most vocal. It's Jazzmin Lauren. My name is weird. J-A-Z-Z-M-I-N. I have a jazz musician as a father. And I would say I'm not super vocal on big advocacy stuff on my social media. My goal is just to share my life as someone with OCD. So, my DMs are always open though. If you ever want to reach out and just say hi, or if you want help finding a therapist, I know how to do that and I'm always willing to help. So, yeah, you can find me there. Kimberley: You're amazing. Thank you so much. Jazzmin: Thank you.

In episode 318 therapist Jonny Say interviews Stuart about his OCD research. Stuart's research used data from the University of Roehampton's ETHOS project. We discuss the motivation for this research, what is humanistic counselling, the research and what was found, what humanistic (and person-centred) counselling can learn from CBT, and what CBT can learn from humanistic counselling, hopes for the research, and much more. Hope it helps.  Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/stuarts-research-318 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers affordable, effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans, if they currently take your insurance, or to download their free app, head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories

Throwback Thursday! Way back when (before the existence of Mental Filter) I met Stuart Ralph at the annual International OCD Foundation Conference. Stuart is not only the nicest and most genuine guy one can be, but he is also the host of a podcast called The OCD Stories https://theocdstories.com/ The podcast has been extremely influential in advocating, educating, and connecting within the OCD community. It is also super popular ;) He graciously allowed me to turn the mic on him. In its original format, this was a video discussion now formatted for audio. We explored his own journey with OCD, the power of storytelling, and highlighting how we may never realize how much we can positively impact others if we are willing to try. For me, it was inspiring, moving, and meaningful. It also was the catalyst for this podcast being born. With much gratitude, I hope you enjoy it. Shmuel

For this episode, I was joined by Stuart Ralph of The OCD Stories Podcast. Stuart was gracious enough to join me to talk about his own OCD story, the experience he has gained by interviewing the biggest names in OCD research and treatment, and what he has learned after speaking… Continue reading The post Stuart Ralph of The OCD Stories appeared first on FearCast Podcast.

For this episode, I was joined by Stuart Ralph of The OCD Stories Podcast. Stuart was gracious enough to join me to talk about his own OCD story, the experience he has gained by interviewing the biggest names in OCD research and treatment, and what he has learned after speaking… Continue reading The post Stuart Ralph of The OCD Stories appeared first on FearCast Podcast.

Bob Hammer produces Have a Ball foundation and golf tournament. Tiffany Stuart is a premier business owner and leader in employment placement at Dynamic. Ralph Barsi is a world class sales coach in the Bay Area. This went deep. Enjoy!

Kelley Franke, LMFT, and Lauren McMeikan Rosen, LMFT, talk Hit and Run OCD, obsessions, compulsions and treatment - ERP. Lauren and Kelley show off their awesome merch courtesy of Riley's Wish, Sean Shinnock and Stuart Ralph of The OCD Stories, and Kevin Foss, LMFT, adds some great humor to the conversation (laughter is key in recovery!) To read the full show notes, click here.

Lauren McMeikan Rosen, LMFT, and Kelley Franke, LMFT, discuss OCD related to emotional harm. Special guest appearance by Maude Franke, Kelley's first child who happens to be of the feline variety. They discuss Riley's Wish Foundation and a fundraiser for the Foundation courtesy of Sean Shinnock from Draw Your Monster and Stuart Ralph of The OCD Stories Podcast. If you are interested in supporting Riley's Wish you can buy a T-shirt, mug or tote and 100% of the proceeds go to the Riley's wish foundation.  To read the full show notes, click here.

“There just aren’t that many different ways we can think of to attack viruses.” This is according to Associate Professor Stuart Ralph, Acting Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Melbourne. “We’ve got lots and lots of drugs for parasites and bacteria, which have lots of potentially susceptible targets, but in the case of viruses – there aren’t that many things that they actually do. “So we’re limited to a handful, maybe only a dozen, discrete processes... that would cause the virus to either stop replicating or stop our bodies getting sick because they’ve got virus inside them.” Dr Craig Morton is a Senior Research Fellow, based at the Bio21 Molecular Science & Biotechnology Institute at the University of Melbourne. He says “In the case of COVID-19, [the drugs] remdesivir and dexamethasone have both been shown to have significant impacts on medical outcomes.” “Remdesivir is a drug that targets viral replication. It wasn’t designed for COVID-19 but appears to work. Dexamethasone is an immune system modulator that actually turns your immune system down slightly. In the very sick patients that seems to be a clinically extremely useful thing to do. “By repurposing existing drugs, you can rapidly get from having no possible treatment to having at least some way of mitigating the infection and improving the outcome of patients.” Dr Morton explains that if you’re starting from scratch, finding a brand new compound, it traditionally takes three to five years of lab research before you get to a point of understanding the chemistry of the potential drugs. Then, the process of testing in people takes normally five to 10 years and costs hundreds of millions of dollars. “At the moment, we know a lot more than we did six months ago, but we’re not able to say when we’ll have drugs that work, when we’ll have a vaccine that is clinically effective,” Dr Morton says. “Drugs for the man in the street to make sure that they don’t get sick? I think they’re still a long way off.” Episode recorded: July 21, 2020. Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath. Producer, audio engineer, editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-production: Silvi Vann-Wall & Dr Andi Horvath. Banner: Getty Images.

Welcome back to another episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit. You guys, you are going to love this episode with one of my favorite poets of all time, The Poetry Bandit. Jon Lupin, aka The Poetry Bandit joins us today to tell us his story about sobriety, OCD, relationships, mental health and how poetry has helped him through.  This is a story about honesty, vulnerability, and commitment. The Poetry Bandit shares his story and together we talk about some of the hidden meanings of his poetry. Jon and I got to read a few of his poetry pieces and talk about how he manages his anxiety, OCD, and sobriety while being a father, employee, friend and poet.  If you get a chance, check out The Poetry Bandit's books of poetry. The links are below.   Encyclopedia of a Broken Heart: Poems You Only Love Me When I'm Suffering: Poems My Sober Little Moon Jon's Instagram @the_poetrybandit Please join the IOCDF for a COVID-19 & OCD Live Townhall. Saturday March 28th at 2 PM EST. Bring your questions for Kimberley, Ethan Smith, Jon Hershfield, and Stuart Ralph. https://www.facebook.com/IOCDF/ Kimberley did a FREE Self-Compassion webinar on The Peace of Mind Foundation's FB page. https://www.facebook.com/peaceofmindfoundation/ Did you know that we were listed in the top 10 OCD podcasts to follow in 2020? https://blog.feedspot.com/ocd_podcasts/

If you really want to learn about OCD, one of the best ways to do it is by listening to the OCD Stories. The OCD Stories is a podcast, created and hosted by Stuart Ralph. He has interviewed hundreds of people with OCD and has brought a face and a narrative to what it is like to have a full life with OCD. He has also had conversations with some of the most inspiring treatment providers and researchers to get their view on best practices and innovations in OCD treatment.I thoroughly enjoy Stuart Ralph’s podcast and it was fun to turn the mic on him and ask him about his stories.Resources we Discussed:The OCD Stories: http://www.theocdstories.comThe OCD Camp (UK): http://theocdcamp.com/Camp DCO (USA): https://teenocdcamp.com/camp-dco/Fear Facers Summer Camp (USA): https://ufhealth.org/fear-facers-summer-camp/overview ***This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be used to replace the guidance of a qualified professional.Visit my website at www.ATparentingSurvival.comInterested in my AT Parenting Community Membership? Click below to join us!http://www.atparentingcommunity.comSign up for my weekly email newsletter:https://pages.convertkit.com/740ba8cd83/92109b7172Take one of my online classes:To view the entire online school library, go to:http://anxioustoddlers.teachable.comClasses include:How to Crush Social Anxietyhttp://anxioustoddlers.teachable.com/p/crush-social-anxietyParenting Kids with OCDhttp://anxioustoddlers.teachable.com/p/child-ocdCrush Moral OCD in Kidshttp://anxioustoddlers.teachable.com/p/moral-ocdTeaching Kids to Crush Anxietyhttp://anxioustoddlers.teachable.com/p/crush-anxiety Helping Kids with Anxiety or OCD Through Difficult Behaviorshttp://anxioustoddlers.teachable.com/p/difficult-behaviorsHelping Kids Who are Scared to Sleephttp://anxioustoddlers.teachable.com/p/scared-to-sleepHandling Sensory-Based Anxietyhttp://anxioustoddlers.teachable.com/p/sensory-anxietyLibrary of Live Anxiety and OCD Classes (20 hours of class replays)http://anxioustoddlers.teachable.com/p/libraryUltimate list of helpful anxiety products:https://www.anxioustoddlers.com/reduce-child-anxiety/To join my private Facebook group visit:https://www.facebook.com/groups/ATparentinganxiouskids/For a list of my books... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode I speak with Stuart Ralph who is the creator of the OCD Stories website and podcast. Stuart explains what OCD actually looks like as many people has a misconception on how this anxiety producing condition affects individuals. He talks about his own OCD story and tells us some ways that he helps to manage this condition. To learn more about Stu and the work that he does, check out his website and podcast here: https://theocdstories.com

How To Do HARD THINGS...It's A Beautiful Day For It!! Welcome back to another Your Anxiety Toolkit Podcast episode!  This week’s episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit is all about How to do Hard Things. I know I say “Its a beautiful day to do hard things” all the time, and sometimes people message me or email and ask me, “How do I do hard things?”  Even friends and loved ones might call to ask, “Can you teach me how to do hard things?”  These hard things might be doing Exposure & Response Prevention (doing something that scares you), taking a test, going to a doctor visit, traveling long distances, feeling intense feelings such as sadness or grief, delivering a speech, experiencing pain or any other event that scares the pants off you.  :) A little note on this before we move on; Doing a Hard Thing is doing the thing that scares YOU, even if it doesn’t scare others.  If it is hard for you, it is hard.  Try not to judge yourself or compare yourself to what is hard for you vs. others. After talking with a dear, loved one this week about an upcoming “hard thing” they were preparing to do, I decided to write them a letter.  My hope was they could read it as they prepared to stare their hard thing in the face (take that hard thing!).  After sending it, I wondered if maybe you needed a similar letter. So, here we go.  Here is the letter I sent my friend.  I hope you find it helpful in understanding how to do hard things.   "Hi my love,  Here are the most important things to remember when dealing with fear, dread, and panic. Just because your brain is telling you there is "danger,” doesn't make it true or real or correct. Our brain misfires (and make mistakes) ALL the time and it is our job to help direct it back to more reasonable reactions. If we react with resistance, we keep training it to misfire. Our job is to just allow the anxiety, without reacting to it. We gently allow it to be present and allow it to rise and fall on its own. With this practice, we not only re-train our brain, but we learn that beyond this moment of discomfort is freedom. Just a few minutes beyond this discomfort is our opportunity to do whatever the fuck we want with our lives. Fear doesn't get to make our decisions. Our values and hopes and dreams do. You are strong, but you don't have to be stronger than fear. It's not a fight, so don't fight it. Slow everything down and gently say to it, "its ok, fear. I am just going to allow you to be here while I do the thing I love to do. You don't get to control me. Love, Kimberley"   Also, CBT School is also excited to share that our lovely friend Stuart Ralph is offering The OCD Summit, an online summit specifically for OCD therapists.  The OCD Summit will be a 6-week webinar series where Stuart Ralph, host of The OCD Stories podcast, will interview some incredible scientists and clinicians in the OCD field, with you the therapist as the audience.   Kimberley is honored to be selected to be one of the panelists for this exciting event.  Registration will include 6 topics curated for your continued development as an OCD therapist, where you can ask questions and network with other therapists in the private FB group community.  Click here to join. Lastly, OCD Awareness Week is coming up: October 7-13!  OCD SoCal will celebration OCD Awareness Week on October 7 from 1:00 pm-5:00 pm in Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego.  Go to IOCDF.org or search your local area for events.

Addressing Fear Like A Scientist In this episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit, we talk about Addressing Fear like Scientists.  Not the scary white haired kind!  In this week's episode, we talk about becoming scientists who run studies that are rational, evidence-based, and experienced-based.  Each time we have a thought, we have an opportunity to be a scientist.  Don’t worry about those white coats.  You don’t need them for these experiments.  And you don’t need to have a fully fledged scientist degree either. The human brain has up to 70,000 thoughts per day.   That is a LOT of thoughts.  When it comes to managing anxiety, much of the work is being able to identify which thoughts that are distorted (or errors) and which are not, so we can respond skillfully and mindfully.  This is not an easy feat and takes ongoing work and courage. The other day, I started thinking about all the lovely people who are being tormented by scary intrusive thoughts, unwanted emotions, and sensations that make them think and feel like there is something wrong with them.   Sometimes these intrusive thoughts make us believe that something bad will happen, or that terror is on its way.  Often when we have these unwanted, intrusive thoughts, we go into a pattern of trying to disprove these possibilities.  We start to shift our day, just to prove that this is in no way possible.  We try to make the uncertain, certain. The problem with this is that we are not actually resolving the issues in REALITY.  What we do when we have these obsessions is we create a new reality where the fear is less likely to occur.  We do this by avoiding events or people or places. We also try to ensure that our fear won't come true by mentally reviewing all of the possible scenarios and how they might play out.  Once we have mentally exhausted ourselves with identifying what specific scenarios might cause troublesome outcomes, we promise ourselves to never put ourselves in those situations. How To Address Fear Like A Scientist Addressing Fear like a scientist involves asking yourself a few very hard questions.  Take a look at these questions and do a quick review on how you are responding to your anxiety and depression. What hypothesis (theory) is my depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) trying to prove? Is this hypothesis true and based in reality and reason? Can I test the evidence in a non-biased way? Can I look at it from every angle without running away from fear? Or trying to solve it? Or steer the outcomes? Can I sit with the results of the experiment? Am I spending my time trying to prove my hypothesis or am I open to actually doing the work of a scientist, who is unbiased and accepting of the outcomes? I invite you this week to be more vigilant about addressing fear like a scientist who tests the hypothesis in a non-biased, rational and reality-based way.  I know this is hard, but you know what I am going to say here. It is a beautiful day to do hard things. Also, CBT School is also excited to share that our lovely friend Stuart Ralph is offering The OCD Summit, an online summit specifically for OCD therapists.  The OCD Summit will be a  6-week webinar series where Stuart Ralph, host of The OCD Stories podcast, will interview some incredible scientists and clinicians in the OCD field, with you the therapist as the audience.   Kimberley is honored to be selected to be one of the panelists for this exciting event.  Registration will include 6 topics curated for your continued development as an OCD therapist, where you can ask questions and network with other therapists in the private FB group community.  Click here to join.

The Anxiety of Decision Making Is REAL and EXHAUSTING! Experiencing and managing anxiety is a hard and courageous task.  And you guys know what I am going to say next.  It is a beautiful day to do hard things! One activity that is made difficult by anxiety is the process of making decisions.    Making decisions can be exhausting and brings up a lot for us. When making decisions, we might be faced with anxiety about making the “right” decision.  We might also be faced with the anxiety of making the decision that won't hurt others or impact others negatively.  We might also be faced with anxiety that our decision will cause us to miss out on something better or more beneficial to our long term goals.  This constitutes the anxiety of decision making. Basically, making decisions is the ULTIMATE exposure to uncertainty and tolerating discomfort.  There is no way to make a decision without acknowledging and facing uncertainty.  Here is a teaser from the episode.  Even when you put the decision making aside, you are actually making a decision.  Not making a decision is technically making a decision you didn’t even know existed. This weeks podcast is all about The Anxiety of Decision Making.  We go over some of the themes that come up surrounding decision making such as Hyper-responsibility, Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and Perfectionism. We also talk about how we must embrace uncertainty in our lives and accept that life doesn’t need to be perfect.  This can be easier said than done, so we discuss some important mindfulness tools which can help us manage perfectionism, hyper-responsibility and Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) when it comes to decision making. We hope you enjoy this week's podcast episode or Your Anxiety Toolkit. Also guys, we are excited to share that ERP SCHOOL is going to be released VERY soon, so keep your eyes out. CBT School is also excited to share that our lovely friend Stuart Ralph is offering The OCD Summit, an online summit specifically for OCD therapists.  The OCD Summit will be a 6-week webinar series where Stuart Ralph, host of The OCD Stories podcast, will interview some incredible scientists and clinicians in the OCD field, with you the therapist as the audience.   Kimberley is honored to be selected to be one of the panelists for this exciting event.  Registration will include 6 topics curated for your continued development as an OCD therapist, where you can ask questions and network with other therapists in the private FB group community.  Click here to join.

Today, I am thrilled to interview Stuart Ralph, the host of the amazing OCD Stories Podcast. In his podcast, Stuart interviews some of the most influential and inspiring psychotherapists and researchers in the anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder field.   During our interview together, I asked Stuart to tell us about some of the most inspiring and memorable interviews he has done and he gave us some SUPER important takeaways. In the podcast, we discussed: How Steven Hayes (author of  Get out of Your Mind and Into Your Life) told Stuart, "You are the Lucky Ones!" How Reid Wilson taught him that "The Content of your worries is trash". How Professor Paul Gilbert (Founder of Compassion Focused Treatment and author of the book, The Compassionate Mind) discussed the application of Self Compassion and how important it is for mental health recovery (especially those who experience anxiety, OCD and mood disorders). Stuart left us with this big piece of wisdom; "We all need love and self-care, and if we give ourselves huge doses of that we can move towards recovery". I hope you enjoyed this interview as much as I did! Please don't forget to leave a review for this podcast!  Your reviews help us reach more people, so then I can help more people! Virtual Hugs everyone!  

In episode 110 I was interviewed by a good friend and fellow podcaster Lawrence Neal. Lawrence asked me questions about running The OCD Stories, what I learned from my guests, what it's like training in therapy, my hopes for the show, The OCD Camp and the biggest opportunity for OCD therapists. Enjoy!  Show notes: http://theocdstories.com/podcast/stuart-ralph-behind-the-scenes-of-the-ocd-stories Get exclusive podcasts and content by becoming a member of the podcast find out more here >> All the best, Stu 

In this episode, I am interviewed by Stuart Ralph. Stuart or "Ralph" as I know him, is a very close friend and the founder of The OCD Stories podcast, which gets in excess of 40,000 downloads per month. He's an excellent interviewer and knows me better than almost anyone. This was a really fun episode, where I had the opportunity to answer all of your questions and explain how my perspective and mindset has evolved as the podcast has grown. We cover: My story and how Corporate Warrior came to be The best advice that I have taken from the podcast and implemented in my own life My current diet and exercise regimen My thoughts on steroids How to optimise muscle gain and fat loss Why it's never been more important to embrace self-experimentation My exact morning routines and practices for optimal productivity And much, much more This episode is brought to you by Hituni.com, providers of the best online courses in high intensity training that come highly recommended by Dr. Doug McGuff and Discover Strength CEO, Luke Carlson. Course contributors include world-class exercise experts like Drew Baye, Ellington Darden and Skyler Tanner. There are courses for both trainers and trainees. So even if you’re not a trainer but someone who practices HIT, this course can help you figure out how to improve your progress and get best results. Check out Hituni.com, add the course you want to your shopping cart and enter the coupon code ‘CW10’ to get 10% off your purchase! Click here for show notes, links and resources

Get exclusive podcasts and content by becoming a member of the podcast find out more here >> In episode 46 of The OCD Stories podcast I was interviewed by Chetna of The East Bay Behavior Therapy Center. Chetna asked me some great questions about recovery, OCD, what the behind the scenes of The OCD Stories looks like and motivation. I hope it helps! Show notes: http://theocdstories.com/podcast/a-day-in-the-life-of-stuart-ralph This podcast is also brought to you by nOCD. Download the app for free and they will donate $0.50 to an OCD charity on your behalf: http://m.treatmyocd.com/ocdstories To your success, Stuart and The OCD Stories team  

Stuart Ralph is a best selling author (Challenge Yourself, I Dare You: A Better You In 30 Days!), Entrepreneur, Public Speaker and Personal Performance Coach.   In This Episode: Introduction of Stuart Ralph Why he...