OCD Straight Talk

Chris responds to an oft' repeated phrase, "Well, I have anxiety, but I don't have OCD. And for fun, he also addresses several myths and misunderstands relative to the diagnosis and treatment of the anxiety-related disorders.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found OCDST helpful, consider giving us a 5-star rating and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with your anxiety- or OCD-symptoms.

Chris responds to a listener's question regarding how obsessions or intrusive thoughts might be experienced differently across the OCD-population. He lists kinds and categories of intrusive thoughts and provides several cases examples from his own experience.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found the podcast helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating/review and subscribing to OCD Straight Talk for more structured help with your anxiety- or OCD-symptoms.

Chris discusses the difference between the style and persona of a good OCD-therapist and the supportive way of a truly helpful family member. It's about balancing two opposing ideas. But many family members fall too far to one side or the other.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving us a 5-star rating/review, and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with you anxiety or OCD-symptoms.

Chris presents a conversation he often has with patients at the beginning of treatment. Expectations are powerful things, including if they're unrealistic. So having healthy and reasonable expectations is important, especially when it what we should expect to get out of therapy.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found the podcast helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating and subscribing to OCD Straight Talk for more structured help with you anxiety, or OCD-symptoms.

Chris presents a definition for OCD that extends outside of the diagnostic criteria. "Why?," you might wonder. The answer is because the diagnostic criteria is so inclusive that it doesn't actually exclude very much at all.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found the podcast helpful, consider giving OCD Straight Talk a 5-star rating and subscribing for more structured help with your anxiety- or OCD symptoms.

Chris discusses an attentional principle that is readily observable for most people. You can't both ruminate and engage the goings-on of the here-and-now at the same time. You're either doing one or the other, even if that means that you're quickly switching back and forth between the two. Chris builds on this concept and provides a practical strategy to harness the principle in order to make gains on rumination.

Chris discusses a personal journey with interpersonal boundaries, confrontation, and self-esteem. He chronicles a time he confronted a person in his life who historically treated him badly; and described how he felt about himself after having done that. He then ties this into OCD-treatment, and works to show the power of behavior-change, no matter the situation you're in.

Chris presents by starting with a question that lingers in the air at this point: What am I supposed to do about my intrusive thoughts? The answer may not be what you want to hear. But it is echoed by the literature, and has been for nearly six decades.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com

If you've found the podcast helpful, consider giving us a 5-star rating and subscribing for more structured help with you anxiety and OCD symptoms.

A listener responds to Pillar 3 with a question. Chris responds. There's ALWAYS risk; but there's only sometimes danger. Listen to find out more.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, feel free to give it a 5-star rating, and subscribe to the podcast for more structured help with your anxiety- or OCD-symptoms.

Chris explains a logical dynamic that goes two ways: the more we have a felt need for certainty, the harder we pursue it. And we pursue it, of course, by doing compulsions. But the harder we pursue it, the more elusive it proves to be. And then, we're back to the beginning. We have a deep and urgent need for certainty. But that street travels two ways. This is where and how Pillars 3, 4, and 5 are connected. Check out this episode to learn more.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating, and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with your anxiety- or OCD-symptoms.

Chris recaps Pillar 1 with a few subtype-examples, and moves to Pillar 2. This is the idea of "reps," or repetitions. Doing something over and over again increases both our competence in executing a task, and sharpens our understanding of it - big picture. The same is true of exposure therapy. Reps are the backbone of getting better.

Chris tackles the first of the Five Pillars, showing that generally OCDers generally don't make a lot of progress without structured, expert help.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found OCDST helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with you anxiety- or OCD-symptoms.

Chris launches a new series on the role of the patient or the listener in the process of getting better. He reviews a document, forged from clinical experience, and written for his patients that explains their specific responsibilities in the act of getting as much out of their therapeutic journey as possible.

Chris discusses a couple of cases that illustrate that idea that sometimes OCD and anxiety disorders flip the script on you, and completely change the behaviors that feed them. All of the sudden, the behaviors that previously were healthy are now compulsive; and the behaviors that were compulsive are now healthy.

Chris responds to a listener's question about the ever-popular topic, Pure-O. He highlights the concept of identifying compulsions; as Pure-Oers do compulsions, they just don't properly identify them.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com

If you've OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with your anxiety- or OCD-symptoms.

Building off of the last two episodes, Chris discusses common errors made in exposure-work. These concepts aren't new to the podcast; but they are ... common mistakes. What that means is that you're probably doing them. And the reality is that exposure therapy generally doesn't work very well if we're committing one or both of these mistakes.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

Or if you've found the podcast helpful, consider giving us a 5-star review or subscribing to OCD Straight Talk for more structured help with you anxiety- or OCD-symptoms.

In this episode, Chris faces his relationship-OCD and does what's called, an imaginal exposure.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found the podcast helpful, consider giving us a 5-star review, and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with your anxiety- or OCD-symptoms.

Chris talks through a few erroneous but common ideas of exposure therapy. These are mistakes made by both consumers and inexperienced therapists. He then explains four components of good exposure therapy. If done properly, these generally render exposure-work effective but uncomfortable.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving us a 5-star rating, and subscribing to the podcast for structured help with you anxiety- and OCD-symptoms.

Chris discusses fears and case-examples that involve physical symptoms and environmental experiences, and that the OCD says "this" is evidence of, or means "that." These can be difficult to deal with, because there's something real and observable thrown into the obsessive-compulsive "mix."

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, feel free to give us a 5-star rating, and subscribe to the podcast for more structured help with you anxiety- or OCd-symptoms.

Chris discusses some literature and case-examples relative to how anxiety- and OCD-symptoms can interfere with individuals' sex life. Most notably, he shows that most common forms of sexual dysfunction, in both men and women, are caused or maintained by Sexual Performance Anxiety.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving us a 5-star rating, and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with your anxiety- and OCD-symptoms.

Chris sits down with Kimberley Quinlan of the great podcast, Your Anxiety Toolkit. They discuss various topics from the history of their careers and supervisors who were pivotal in shaping who they are as clinicians today to what techniques they favor in therapy and why.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

I you've OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving us a 5-star rating and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with your OCD- and anxiety-related symptoms.

Chris responds to a listener's question about the difference between OCD and excoriation disorder. This is an important question, because many OCDers report that they pick at their skin "as a compulsion." In many cases, they can just stop. But what happens when they can't?

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found the podcast helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating, and subscribing to OCD Straight Talk for more structured help with your clinically significant anxiety-symptoms.

Chris finishes the series on SCAMP and the Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors. In this episode, he focuses on the last two trigger-categories (Movement and Place) represented in the acronym. This episode was made possible by NOCD.

Feel free to reach out with any question you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating, and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with your anxiety and OCD-symptoms.

Chris continues to series on OCD-Related disorders, this time talking through the "A" (for Affect) in the acronym SCAMP. The important idea is effectively manage triggers, to include feelings. There's one notable exception to this rule. And I'll bet you can guess what that is. This podcast was made possible by NOCD.

Feel free to reach out with any questions to might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found the podcast helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating, and subscribing to OCD Straight Talk for more structured help with you anxiety and OCD-symptoms.

In this episode, Chris starts off by re-emphasizing the importance of identifying and preventing relevant behaviors when dealing with a number of common mental health conditions. And he continues the series on the so-called "OCD-related disorders." This episode is made possible by NOCD.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found this episode helpful, consider giving us a 5-star rating or subscribe to OCD Straight Talk for structured help with your anxiety-related symptoms.

Chris discusses evidence-based strategies for dealing with triggers relative to the anxiety-related disorders, like PTSD, OCD, Specific Phobia, etc., and other conditions like trichotillomania and excoriation disorder. There's an important difference between these strategies. Tune in to learn more.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found the podcast helpful, feel free to give us a 5-star review; and contact the Kentuckiana Treatment Center for Anxiety and OCD at KentuckyOCD.com.

Chris poses a question of what OCDers are to do when they are engaging such habitual and routine compulsions that they can't stop doing them?

Feel free to reach out to chrisleins04@gmail.com with any questions you might have.

If you've found this episode helpful, consider giving OCD Straight Talk a 5-star rating. And for treatment, visit KentuckyOCD.com, or contact Kentuckiana Treatment Center for Anxiety & OCD.

Chris discusses the idea that a lot of people tolerate the scratching behavior with the hope of getting rid of the itch. But success in the fight against OCD is about tolerating the thoughts and the anxiety that they cause and instead focusing on stopping the compulsions. This is where grit and resilience, along with a touch or two of uncertainty, are you ally.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you found this episode helpful, consider giving the podcast a 5-star rating. And for treatment, visit KentuckyOCD.com.

Chris discusses patients who demonstrate grit and resilience in the therapeutic journey. Being willing and able to tolerate psychoemotive distress is ESSENTIAL to stopping compulsions. And resisting and stopping compulsions is the active ingredient to making progress against the OCD.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, considering giving the podcast a 5-star rating. And for treatment, visit and contact us at KentuckyOCD.com.

Chris discusses a general principle that applies not just to the management of OCD and anxiety-related symptoms, but to problems and conditions that people commonly face.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating, and reach out to KentuckyOCD.com for treating for your anxiety-related symptoms.

Chris discusses the question of why individuals experience certain intrusive thoughts? In this context, he also presents the value of embracing uncertainty.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving us a 5-star review, and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with you anxiety-related symptoms.

Chris discusses intrusive images and urges, noting that often they elicit anxiety because of what we think they mean. The question, of course, becomes, Do they REALLY mean that?

Feel free to reach out with any question you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found OCDST helpful, feel free to give us a 5-star review, and subscribe to the podcast for more structured help with your anxiety-related symptoms.

Chris talks through the idea that compulsive responses give credibility to the obsessional anxiety. The question becomes, What does it look like for you to not respond?

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating, and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with you anxiety-related symptoms.

Chris has a conversation with Dr. B, his wife, about the OCD-system and how it works. Enjoy.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving us a 5-star rating, and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with your anxiety-symptoms.

Chris discusses the OCD-system, the pieces and parts that make up the whole. And he identifies the common reaction of making "feeling better" the end goal for most OCDers. But the minute we focus on feeling better as our primary aim, we instinctively seek to do something to achieve that goal. What that response is most liklely meets the definition of compulsion.

Chris explains the thinking and assumptions of many people and patients about what "compulsions" are, and are not. Often, it's the assumptions we make about such behaviors that allows them to continue-on unchecked.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found the podcast helpful, consider giving OCD Straight Talk a 5 star-review, and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with your anxiety-symptoms.

Chris discusses common patterns across years of cases. Many patients struggle to make progress early in treatment (or because they are not in it to start with) for one or both of two reasons. Making efficient progress is first about distinguishing obsessions from compulsions, and second about finding the needle-compulsions in the behavioral haystack.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving us a 5-star rating, and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with your anxiety-symptoms.

Chris sits down with Dr. Mark McMinn to discuss scrupulosity and religious scrupulosity. The two talk through various issues, though, the simple issue. They also talk about spiritualty and psychology and how or where the two bodies of knowledge intersect.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you found the podcast helpful, give us a 5-star rating; and consider subscribing to OCD Straight Talk for more structured help with your anxiety-symptoms.

Chris discusses the idea of meta-cognitions: the thoughts we have about the thoughts we have; and he answers a listener's question about intrusive images. He points not to the images or thoughts we have, but what we think about those thoughts or images that makes them scary. 

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com.

If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving us a 5-star rating, and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with you anxiety-related symptoms. 

Chris discusses the idea of overriding your urge to manage your thoughts and feelings. This isn't easy; and nobody (at least nobody who knows what he or she is talking about) is saying it is. But it certainly is possible. To further unpack this, Chris gives the example of behavior-change within the context of depressive episodes, and explains its longitudinal effect. He then shows how behavior-change within the context of clinical anxiety or OCD is not only a similar concept but also enjoys the same results. 

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com, and subscribe to OCDST for more structured help with your anxiety.

Chris takes on the question of the degree to which OCD is unlike the anxiety disorders and more like Trichotillomania and Excoriation Disorder. It comes down to emotionality and what specifically to focus on managing.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com; and consider subscribing for more structured help with your anxiety. 

Chris tackles a good question relative to exposure therapy: How informal is too informal? Many of us walk into exposure-work with the idea that it has look a certain way; and that way is often accompanied by some preconceived notions. Some of these are good and accurate. Some of them are not. Well, which notions or "parameters" are actually helpful, according to the literature? 

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to chrisleins04@gmail.com; and consider subscribing to OCD Straight Talk for more structured help with your OCD or anxiety-symptoms.