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I initially found writing down the intrusive thoughts was helpful. 

Initially it took some guts to do so, but I got into it well. 

Then took great delight in shredding them, which was really joyous and helped me a lot :)

But just bringing them to mind also worked fine and was my ongoing standard method. 

It's quite possible just to re-imagine a scene where some trigger occurred without say having to go there again. The effect within ERP is just as powerful and beneficial. 

 

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Often people will say on here that when they are really suffering, triggers (consequent upon an OCD core belief) will seem to be all around us - making it very difficult to function. 

At one time I myself was saying this. 

But through CBT, including structured sessions of ERP, we can discover, and lay that core belief, to rest, disarm it. 

And when we have done that, the triggers will start to fade away, slowly but surely. 

This emphasises the importance of uncovering and challenging the underlying core belief as it is that from which all the trouble stems. 

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Yes I experienced that all those years ago, triggers everywhere even in the house, well only in the house as if stopped going out and had isolated myself but it felt as if he universe was doing it’s utmost to present these triggers to me in the most persistent and creative ways constantly all day long. But but the time I recovered they disappeared. Well I’m sure they were still there but I just didn’t notice.

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18 minutes ago, taurean said:

I initially found writing down the intrusive thoughts was helpful. 

Initially it took some guts to do so, but I got into it well. 

Then took great delight in shredding them, which was really joyous and helped me a lot :)

But just bringing them to mind also worked fine and was my ongoing standard method. 

It's quite possible just to re-imagine a scene where some trigger occurred without say having to go there again. The effect within ERP is just as powerful and beneficial. 

 

Oh yes I remember cutting an exposure into tiny pieces years ago as I didn’t have a shredder and then depositing them in not one but several bins around the city just in case anyone pieced them together ? Shows the state of my mental health at the time. 

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22 minutes ago, taurean said:

Often people will say on here that when they are really suffering, triggers (consequent upon an OCD core belief) will seem to be all around us - making it very difficult to function. 

At one time I myself was saying this. 

But through CBT, including structured sessions of ERP, we can discover, and lay that core belief, to rest, disarm it. 

And when we have done that, the triggers will start to fade away, slowly but surely. 

This emphasises the importance of uncovering and challenging the underlying core belief as it is that from which all the trouble stems. 

Can you say more about how to uncover and challenge the underlying core belief when you get time please

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For some themes the core belief may be quite obvious, for others it's more difficult to fathom out. 

I was taught to use the "downward arrow" principle for those. 

Again borrowing from a previous topic of mine, using the search field top right:

If people don't know how to establish their core underlying issues, there is a good CBT technique to use that is great. The downward arrow technique.

You start off by asking yourself an open question about your problems, why you feel distressed. Then write down your answer on a piece of paper.

Draw a downward arrow underneath it then ask yourself - if this were true, why would it be so bad?

Write in the answer below the arrow and draw another downward arrow underneath.

Keep repeating this until no further answer is possible - then focus on what your last answer revealed.

This is a well-used technique and was used by the therapist on me 15 years ago when I first sought help. I didn't know what my core problem was, but it came out as "fear of losing control", which is spot on.

Edited September 13, 2015 by taurean. 

And here is a wonderful piece on challenging core beliefs written by my fellow OCD-UK member, and a forum moderator, snowbear. 

"Core beliefs mainly develop in childhood as everyday experiences are made sense of (the best we know how at the time), but troublesome core beliefs can develop at any stage of life. Thankfully, the same process that creates the problem ones can also be used to change them to less troublesome ones!  

Key to changing them is to look at how you interpret your day-to-day experiences (typically in a way that confirms the core belief) and then challenge that interpretation at every opportunity as new experiences occur. (Is there another way to interpret this situation? Is there an alternative explanation for feeling this way that I've overlooked? What am I missing/ assuming here?) That would be the cognitive approach. 

They don't have to be big 'events' or OCD-related experiences to be useful teaching tools. In fact, examining the way we interpret mundane things often gives the most insight to our hidden beliefs (because mundane things are less emotionally charged and therefore easier to think about openly.) 

You can also use a behavioural approach to challenge core beliefs. (So there are horses for courses, whichever the individual prefers!) It's the same technique as devising an ERP exercise. Perhaps you might do two 'exposures', one while thinking, 'I'm a bad person and any minute I'm going to be found out' and one while thinking, 'I'm a good person, I have nothing to hide.' The exercise is to show you the effect your thinking has on how you feel ,and to make you aware of how you interact with the world while feeling different ways. Rather than just being told to change what you believe, you get to personally experience the truth that it's not whatother people are aware of or unaware of that matters, but the story you're telling yourself on the inside. 

Another way to put it might be that challenging core beliefs cognitively is about learning that alternative thinking processes are available to you.

While challenging core beliefs behaviourally is about experimentally putting some of those different thinking processes into practice and experiencing what happens when you change how you think. 

It's really simple stuff. Why no text books explain it like that is beyond me! Maybe some day we'll all write a book between us."

Snowbear contributed that to one of my topics, and it's great. 

Hope these two pieces help, Black. 

 

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