Advice

[Dempsey1919]

Just a question, in erp therapy they won't make me go out of my way to think of sick twisted thoughts about kids, harming people etc. They won't ask me to think of sick things on purpose as part of my therapy to slowly decrease the anxiety and fear. That would be to much for me, I would never purposely think or fantasise about sick things. Obviously I can't stop intrusive thoughts popping in my head, but I do try not to react to them so harshly. I practice mindfulness to let the intrusive thoughts pass and it helps when I'm not practicing mindfulness most times. Thanks in advance.

[PipM82]

It's meant to be "graded" so you are thinking things or being in uncomfortable situations in a relatively manageable way at first.

[Dempsey1919 in reply to PipM82]

Sorry I don't quite know what you mean by thinking things, it won't ask me to purposely think sick things that will be to much.

[PipM82 in reply to Dempsey1919]

With ERP the idea is to start off thinking things deliberately or being in situations we’d normally avoid but to have a hierarchy ie from like the most manageable to the least. For example I couldn’t go to a park to start but I could look at pictures of kids in a magazine. It’s called graded exposure. The “role play” part of deliberately thinking something abhorrent or even saying it out loud with the support of a therapist is part of really enforcing they are ONLY thoughts and everyone has disturbing thoughts. We as OCD sufferers react differently to those thoughts and that’s why we need decent therapists.

[Dempsey1919 in reply to PipM82]

Thanks I won't ever be able to think or shout things out loud.

[alexandraisobsessed IOCDF Advocate]

Hi there,

A good therapist will take your needs and distress tolerance into account while creating a treatment plan to assist you.

That being said, Exposure and Response Prevention does require us to learn to not judge our thoughts or otherwise engage with the content of our obsessions and to confront our fears.

However, a compassionate and skilled therapist will be able to do this while collaborating with you and respecting your needs.

[Dempsey1919]

I can handle not judging intrusive thoughts but I won't think sick thoughts on purpose, that's to much for me. I have erp next month so with a bit of luck I will be ok