OCD therapy advice

I was diagnosed ocd by a psychologist two months ago. Then he sent me to a psychiatrist. However our sessions were only for diagnosis and it was supposed we started therapy today after i went to the psychiatrist. However I try to express myself well but sometimes i feel the psychologist dont understand me (but is because i have difficulty in that part) but today that i went he told me an exercise to concentrate, to drink my meds, exercise, eat well but nothing about erp. Any advice?

[Lauragbr]

sounds like it’s early in your treatment. Hopefully he will bring up ERP the next visit.

[Hidden in reply to Lauragbr]

Thanks!

[SCC1]

I agree with Lauragbr. And, I don't think that exercising and eating well is a well thought out plan by your therapist. Hopefully, things will move along faster and your therapist can offer some good OCD advice.

I've been told by drs as well, to take care of myself physically and that will help me feel better mentally. It probably does, but you need more information about how to take care of your mental health.

[Hidden in reply to SCC1]

Thanks!

[SCC1 in reply to Hidden]

You're welcome! Good luck with everything.

[Sallyskins]

All that is all very well and good, and can only help. But CBT/ERP are absolutely vital with OCD. If he doesn't raise it, then make sure you do.

I had an awful therapist for some years in my 20s. I hadn't heard of OCD and thought I was uniquely weird. He didn't tell me what I had, and didn't offer CBT or ERP. He expected me to go on about my awful childhood, while he sat there smoking and drinking coffee in his cowboy shirt. It didn't help. I found out about OCD from a book my mother bought me, and things started to make sense.

So raise the topic of CBT/ERP with the psychiatrist and ask for a referral to an appropriate therapist. Psychiatrists aren't actually therapists, so it's unlikely he will treat you himself.

And make a start yourself by getting one or two CBT-based self help books!

[IStillHaveHope in reply to Sallyskins]

Man that hit home a bit. I ended up seeing our school counselor when I was a teen. However, this was about 30 years ago and OCD wasn't really understood well. I thought I was uniquely weird as well. It led to a lot of isolation and feelings of loneliness. However, now I understand that a lot of people have this condition and it is treatable.

[Sallyskins in reply to IStillHaveHope]

It's a surprisingly common condition, and it's extraordinary how little it was known about until quite recently. I really only found out about it when my mother bought me a book called Living with Fear by Isaac M Marks. It really elucidated it for me - I knew I had a recognizable, treatable condition! I didn't half have a go at my so-called therapist! I told him I could buy a teddy bear and sit in on a chair and talk to it, and get about as much use from that as I got from him!

[Hidden in reply to Sallyskins]

Do you hay any recommendations of books? Tbh mine is a psychologist (he referred me to a psychiatrist and told me to come back after i went to the psychiatrist).

[Sallyskins in reply to Hidden]

The ones I always suggest - that have actually helped me - are Overcoming Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (from the excellent Overcoming range) and The OCD Workbook. Both have exercises you can adapt to your own form of OCD, with lots of examples. For intrusive thoughts try Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts by Sally M Winston and Martin N Self. It's quite astonishing how much progress you can make on your own!

[Hidden in reply to Sallyskins]

Thanks!

[Mom2DnJ]

Is the psychologist you are seeing an OCD specialist? A general psychologist isn’t trained in ERP…talk therapy will not give you the tools for OCD.