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I am awaiting therapy on the NHS at the moment specifically for my OCD but am considering a private therapist . I am concerned that this may just end up as talk therapy and talking about my thoughts and experiences not only feeds my need for reassurance but also keeps me focussed on my thoughts . What advice would people give to good and bad therapy for OCD particularly focussed on intrusive thoughts and no outward compulsions . My primary concern is I ruminate a lot and going into the wrong type of therapy may simply feed my rumination 

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Hi Skippy,

I am in private therapy at the moment, which I did partly to avoid the long waiting time and also to have a bit more control. I did a lot of research before contacting anyone. I first looked at the CBT register to find therapists trained in CBT. I decided I wanted to go for someone who had a clinical doctorate or medical degree (so someone with a "dr" title). I then googled them and looked at their specialisations. The particular therapist I ended up seeing has a lot of experience working with OCD on the NHS and then started his own practice. 

Then I called him on the phone and I really liked him, he gave me a lot of information about how things work and how much it costs. I also really liked that he didn't try to sell his practice to me, he was telling me that he is a psychiatrist and so charges more than a psychologist would, but offered to put me in contact with a colleague of his if I preffered. That all really put me at ease and when I finally went to see him I just felt like he completely understood what I was trying to communicate and my thoughts/feelings. So I ended up going to therapy with him. It hasn't turned out to be talk therapy at all, we do lots of ERP and talk about the cognitive side of things too, with some mindfullness as well.

I would really recommend finding someone who has experience with OCD specifically, you can find information about their work online a lot of the time. Also, just don't be afraid to be open and honest with them and tell them what you're looking for and see if they provide that.

Best of luck!

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8 hours ago, Skippy said:

I am concerned that this may just end up as talk therapy and talking about my thoughts and experiences not only feeds my need for reassurance but also keeps me focussed on my thoughts

In part, overcoming OCD does involve talking therapy, especially the cognitive aspect of understanding our problems, and why we think how we do and exploring alternative interpretations for our worries and fears caused by OCD.  So in some respects, much of your therapy focus does need to be 'talking' to help you understand why you ruminate. 

But therapy should also be a 'doing' therapy in terms of taking action, challenging our fears and worries.  

Good CBT should of course encompass all of those components of therapy, but often the success or failure of therapy will partly depend on the OCD knowledge of the therapist to correctly apply both C and B parts of therapy. 

 

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