Purely OCD Purely OCD

On this episode of Purely OCD Lauren Rosen, LMFT, and Kelley Franke, LMFT, are joined with a special guest Shaun Flores who is a mental health advocate who shares with us his journey with OCD. Shaun has made it his mission to spread awareness about OCD. Shaun is an International OCD Foundation advocate, TEDx speaker and a powerful influence in the mental health community. It was such an honor to have him on as our guest today.

This week, Lauren Rosen, LMFT, and Kelley Franke, LMFT, are joined by Dr. Patrick McGrath. Dr. McGrath is the Chief Clinical Officer at NOCD and the former Director of the Center for Anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD) and the Co-Director of the School Anxiety and School Refusal Program at AMITA Health Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. He offers a wealth of insight and knowledge. We hope you enjoy learning from him.

On this week’s episode of Purely OCD, Lauren and Kelley explore harm obsessions in this multiple part series. In part 1 of the series, the two identify intrusive thoughts that commonly present for those living with this particular sub-type of OCD. First they explain what harm OCD is and how harm obsessions can be categorized through violent intrusive thoughts, moral OCD, Postpartum OCD, contamination OCD and many others. Next they dive deeper into “traditional harm” obsessions and triggers. Lastly, they briefly touch on intrusive images, sensations and “urges” that often times come up with this subtype.

On this week's episode of Purely OCD, Kelley and Lauren discuss sneaky reassurance seeking in the form of confession. First they discuss how to tell if it's becoming a problem. Next they consider how it can show up with different themes including Relationship OCD, Sexual Orientation OCD, Religious Scrupulosity and Moral Scrupulosity. Lastly, they briefly touch on how to deal with the anxiety that arises as a result of choosing to refrain from confessing compulsively. Join them as they record live next Monday on Youtube at 12:30 PM PT.

This week on Purely OCD, Lauren and Kelley discuss how to get support from a loved one without it becoming compulsive. To start, they cover the reasons why asking for reassurance can be so problematic. Next, they discuss the "how" of asking for support without seeking reassurance. In addition, they talk about the importance of taking care of your support system, as compulsive reassurance often puts a tremendous strain on relationships. They also consider the importance of knowing who to disclose information to and set the record straight about reassurance (not all reassurance is bad)! Lastly, they cover types of language to use for those who are in the supporter role.

Today on Purely OCD podcast, Lauren Rosen, LMFT, and Kelley Franke, LMFT, talk about Exposure and Response Prevention in the treatment of OCD. They discuss different types of exposures and how to practice not engaging in compulsions (or response prevention). You can check out prior podcast episodes to learn more about specific types of compulsions and how exposure and response prevention can be applied with different OCD subtypes.