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Hi Tom,

Are there some thoughts that cause you less distress than others? Those would be the ideal ones to gently start tackling and once you feel little no anxiety...work your way towards facing those that are causing you to feel more anxious.

Would it help to group the thoughts in three stages? Fill in Group One with thoughts you think you could work on now, but leave the thoughts you're struggling to articulate for Groups Two and Three. Leave those blank for the time being and once you feel less anxious and more confident about Group One, then move on. I wish it didn't, but erp will always entail some discomfort, the key's to go about it steadily, and always try to push that bit further forwards.

I'm showing my ignorance here...what does the s in socd stand for?

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  • 1 month later...

Hi Tom,

I am just going to move your thread to the main OCD forum so you can get more replies. 

Can I ask, when you say SOCD do you mean Sexual Orientation OCD?  I am not trying to be pernickety I just wanted to be clear what aspect of OCD we are talking about.  It's also why I try and avoid using those acronyms or different OCD symptoms because I have seen the same acronym used for different symptoms. 

I would actually encourage you not to just think of doing ERP to treat OCD but seek out a good CBT therapist. A good therapist will involve both CBT and ERP, and in fact I am not convinced ERP on its own is the answer to treating OCD where the sticking point is rumination over intrusive thoughts more than physical compulsions.  The rumination of course is a compulsion. 

Hal is right of course, if you can't yet work with a therapist, then step one (without or without a therapist actually) is create a hierarchy of fears and worries, and then gently start by working to challenge those first. 

If you can't bring yourself to articulate and provocatively encourage triggering thoughts, it does suggest you need to work on something lower and build up to the point you are trying to reach. It could also mean understanding our thoughts more may be needed (i.e. C part of CBT).

Good luck thought Tom, I hope you manage to get to the point you are aiming for soon :) 

Ashley

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