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Hi,

I have been seeing my therapist for a few months now and have felt I have been making a lot of progress. I still don't have my OCD under control but am doing a lot better then I was six months ago. Well yesterday my therapist informed me that she would like to refer me to a psychologist for a full evaluation since she is not qualified to do one. I took this kind of hard because I thought I was making progress so why is she now referring me elsewhere five months later. Shouldn't she have done that in the beginning? Also she asked me yesterday why I have the intrusive thoughts that I do, I told her I didn't know they just kind of pop into my head. I hate the thoughts they scare me and make me feel horrible and I would do anything to make them go away. She told me that deep down there is some truth to the thoughts or I wouldn't be having them. Is this true? I always thought these thoughts were out of our control and now I am feeling very anxious and just confused. Any advice would be appreciated.

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My first thought was... RUN AWAY!

If she understood OCD she never would have asked you why you get intrusive thoughts. And she never would have stated that there must be some truth to the thoughts.

This therapist does not understand OCD. I'm betting you are not getting CBT, which is the gold standard treatment for OCD.

My advice is dump her, save your money and find a qualified therapist who knows OCD and who offers CBT.

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2 hours ago, ZMCBL said:

Well yesterday my therapist informed me that she would like to refer me to a psychologist for a full evaluation since she is not qualified to do one. I took this kind of hard because I thought I was making progress so why is she now referring me elsewhere five months later. Shouldn't she have done that in the beginning?

Yep, possibly.  Are you in the UK?  It's possible you are going through the IAPT service, and they want to refer you to secondary care, which if that is the case they are at least following the right process for stepping you up for treatment.

 

2 hours ago, ZMCBL said:

She told me that deep down there is some truth to the thoughts or I wouldn't be having them. Is this true?

No, I am afraid this person clearly does not understand OCD.  So I would welcome the opportunity to see someone more experienced if this was me.

 

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Thank you for the responses. I am in the United States. I found my therapist on my own when my OCD got so bad I wasn't leaving the house without another adult. We talked a lot about my feelings and the stress in my life and about my obsessions and her advice was to just keep doing the things that made me uncomfortable. I took that advice and have been doing better about leaving the house but am still  burdened with anxiety and fear. I was asking her how to better manage this and that's when she brought up the intrusive thoughts and why I am still having them. I am a little confused as to what CBT is and how it is different from what I've been doing. Will it give me the skills to manage the anxiety and constant doubt I feel?

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Sorry you're having issues with therapists.  Finding a good OCD therapist here in the US is a daunting task.  I've had several local therapists and all were pretty much useless.  I then did an online skype therapy which was the best, but I still think it could have been better.  I quit the online after 5 sessions.

Bizarre to me why so many therapists are clueless about OCD.  I find the help here better than any therapist.

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22 minutes ago, ZMCBL said:

I am in the United States. I found my therapist on my own when my OCD got so bad I wasn't leaving the house without another adult.

I perhaps can't help or advise you then, other than my comments above, they don't seem to be very experienced in treating OCD.  You might want to check with one of the US charities for OCD for list of recommended therapists.

Have a look at our website for details about CBT.  You can read more about CBT and watch a video on our website here: http://www.ocduk.org/cognitive-behavioural-therapy

 

 

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2 hours ago, ZMCBL said:

Thank you for the responses. I am in the United States. I found my therapist on my own when my OCD got so bad I wasn't leaving the house without another adult. We talked a lot about my feelings and the stress in my life and about my obsessions and her advice was to just keep doing the things that made me uncomfortable. I took that advice and have been doing better about leaving the house but am still  burdened with anxiety and fear. I was asking her how to better manage this and that's when she brought up the intrusive thoughts and why I am still having them. I am a little confused as to what CBT is and how it is different from what I've been doing. Will it give me the skills to manage the anxiety and constant doubt I feel?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is THE treatment for OCD. Basically it is about thinking differently and behaving differently.

Take a look at the OCD-UK main site (there's lots of good information there). You can also get a good quality OCD book that talks about CBT, like Break Free from OCD.

And yes, CBT teaches you how to properly deal with intrusive thoughts and compulsions.

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17 hours ago, jimangie1973 said:

Sorry you're having issues with therapists.  Finding a good OCD therapist here in the US is a daunting task.  I've had several local therapists and all were pretty much useless.  I then did an online skype therapy which was the best, but I still think it could have been better.  I quit the online after 5 sessions.

Bizarre to me why so many therapists are clueless about OCD.  I find the help here better than any therapist.

It's also a daunting challenge to find a good OCD therapist in France !...

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I have used some good ones privately here in London, but the real indepth understanding of what puts my OCD problems together has come from my friends here. 

Knowledge is power - but I still have very significant challenges to overcome when my themes of OCD flare up. 

Personally I think for those having difficulty finding a therapist OCD workbooks are good - they give you the theory and understanding, and the homework and exposure :)

You can get them from Amazon. 

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