Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
In recent years I have been focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and continue my education and training to provide evidence-based therapy that will help clients find relief.
Below is information that will be helpful as you educate yourself about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or other conditions such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and related Muscle Dysmorphia (MD), Misophonia (an intense physical/emotional/mental reaction to certain sounds), Hoarding Disorder, and Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRB's) which are Trichotillomania (Hair Pulling), Excoriation (Skin Picking), nail-biting/nail-picking, hair-eating and others.
There are subsets of OCD identified by the particular areas in which someone has obsessive thoughts. These include Harm OCD (intrusive thoughts of unknowingly causing harm to self or others), Pedophilia OCD (intrusive thoughts of harming a child sexually), Religious OCD, also called Scrupulosity (fear of having blasphemous thoughts or actions), Contamination OCD (fear of being contaminated or causing contamination), Somatic OCD (fear of having a disease or problem with one's body). This is not an exhaustive list but provides an idea as to the many presentations of OCD.
The resources below are a starting place to learn more from organizations dedicated to evidence-based treatment and good clinical research. Plus, see information below about the article titled Everyone Has Intrusive Thoughts. If you are a client and would like a copy, please call or email me. If you would like a jump-start on therapy, begin with Mind Over Mood, to learn about Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (Intro, Chapters 1, 2, 3, then the chapters on depression and anxiety are what I recommend to begin), then get Getting Over OCD-A 10-Step Workbook for Taking Back Your Life (Second Edition) by Jonathan Abramowitz and start reading and completing the worksheets. This will all be foundational work that we would be doing in your first weeks of therapy - get a head start!
Local Support Groups
St. Louis Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Group Free group. Meets the third Saturday each month 10:00-12:00 http://stlocd.org/
ShowMe OCD Free group. Meets every Tuesday 6:30-8:00, contact Gregg Sansone, 636-236-2267 or Greggsansone@hotlmail.com
St. Louis Obsessive Compulsive Anonymous Meets Tuesdays or Saturdays http://www.stlocdsupport.com/
General Information on OCD and Subsets of OCD
International OCD Foundation website https://iocdf.org/
Intrusive Thoughts website www.intrusivethoughts.org/
Recommended Workbook Resource
Getting Over OCD - A 10-Step Workbook for Taking Back Your Life (Second Edition) by Jonathan S. Abramowitz, PhD
Information about Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and Muscle Dysmorphia (MD)
IOCDF website https://bdd.iocdf.org/
IOCDF website https://bdd.iocdf.org/expert-opinions/muscle-dysmorphia/
Intrusive Thoughts website www.intrusivethoughts.org/ocd-symptoms/body-dysmorphic-disorder/
Information about Hoarding Disorder
IOCDF website https://hoarding.iocdf.org/
Intrusive Thoughts website www.intrusivethoughts.org/ocd-symptoms/hoarding/
Information about Misophonia (hearing sounds that are very disturbing)
IOCDF website https://iocdf.org/expert-opinions/misophonia/
Misophonia Association https://misophonia-association.org/misophonia-association.org/
Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRB's)
For information about Trichotillomania, Excoriation and other related disorders, go to IOCDF https://iocdf.org/about-ocd/related-disorders/
TLC Foundation for BFRB's www.bfrb.org/
Below is information that will be helpful as you educate yourself about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or other conditions such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and related Muscle Dysmorphia (MD), Misophonia (an intense physical/emotional/mental reaction to certain sounds), Hoarding Disorder, and Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRB's) which are Trichotillomania (Hair Pulling), Excoriation (Skin Picking), nail-biting/nail-picking, hair-eating and others.
There are subsets of OCD identified by the particular areas in which someone has obsessive thoughts. These include Harm OCD (intrusive thoughts of unknowingly causing harm to self or others), Pedophilia OCD (intrusive thoughts of harming a child sexually), Religious OCD, also called Scrupulosity (fear of having blasphemous thoughts or actions), Contamination OCD (fear of being contaminated or causing contamination), Somatic OCD (fear of having a disease or problem with one's body). This is not an exhaustive list but provides an idea as to the many presentations of OCD.
The resources below are a starting place to learn more from organizations dedicated to evidence-based treatment and good clinical research. Plus, see information below about the article titled Everyone Has Intrusive Thoughts. If you are a client and would like a copy, please call or email me. If you would like a jump-start on therapy, begin with Mind Over Mood, to learn about Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (Intro, Chapters 1, 2, 3, then the chapters on depression and anxiety are what I recommend to begin), then get Getting Over OCD-A 10-Step Workbook for Taking Back Your Life (Second Edition) by Jonathan Abramowitz and start reading and completing the worksheets. This will all be foundational work that we would be doing in your first weeks of therapy - get a head start!
Local Support Groups
St. Louis Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Group Free group. Meets the third Saturday each month 10:00-12:00 http://stlocd.org/
ShowMe OCD Free group. Meets every Tuesday 6:30-8:00, contact Gregg Sansone, 636-236-2267 or Greggsansone@hotlmail.com
St. Louis Obsessive Compulsive Anonymous Meets Tuesdays or Saturdays http://www.stlocdsupport.com/
General Information on OCD and Subsets of OCD
International OCD Foundation website https://iocdf.org/
Intrusive Thoughts website www.intrusivethoughts.org/
Recommended Workbook Resource
Getting Over OCD - A 10-Step Workbook for Taking Back Your Life (Second Edition) by Jonathan S. Abramowitz, PhD
Information about Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and Muscle Dysmorphia (MD)
IOCDF website https://bdd.iocdf.org/
IOCDF website https://bdd.iocdf.org/expert-opinions/muscle-dysmorphia/
Intrusive Thoughts website www.intrusivethoughts.org/ocd-symptoms/body-dysmorphic-disorder/
Information about Hoarding Disorder
IOCDF website https://hoarding.iocdf.org/
Intrusive Thoughts website www.intrusivethoughts.org/ocd-symptoms/hoarding/
Information about Misophonia (hearing sounds that are very disturbing)
IOCDF website https://iocdf.org/expert-opinions/misophonia/
Misophonia Association https://misophonia-association.org/misophonia-association.org/
Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRB's)
For information about Trichotillomania, Excoriation and other related disorders, go to IOCDF https://iocdf.org/about-ocd/related-disorders/
TLC Foundation for BFRB's www.bfrb.org/
Articles of Interest
In the Appendix of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Adults, Jonathan S. Abramowitz and Ryan J Jacoby have a helpful resource titled Everyone Has Intrusive Thoughts. If you are a current client of mine and would like to read this, please let me know. A brief excerpt (Appendix Three, J. S. Abramowitz and R. J. Jacoby: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Adults, copyright 2015 Hogrefe Publishing):
"What many people do not realize is that practically everyone experiences unwanted intrusive thoughts (whether or not they have OCD). These sorts of thoughts are as much a part of normal human thinking as are fantasies and daydreams about positive events. The focus of this handout is to teach you that the unpleasant, distressing, repugnant, bizarre, and senseless obsessional thoughts that you are experiencing are not dangerous or abnormal."
"...people without OCD experience the same kinds of unwanted and intrusive thoughts as do people with OCD. The list below shows some examples of intrusive thoughts reported by people without OCD:
Thought of jumping off the bridge onto the highway below
Thought of running my car off the road or into oncoming traffic
Thought of poking something into my eyes
Impulses to jump onto the tracks as a train comes into the station"
The list continues quite extensively and they further describe how someone without OCD handles these thoughts versus what someone with OCD might do.
Article on Existential and Philosophical OCD located on the IOCDF website iocdf.org/expert-opinions/to-be-or-not-to-be-that-is-the-obsession-existential-and-philosophical-ocd/
Article on Perfectionism, located on the IOCDF website iocdf.org/expert-opinions/perfectionism/
In the Appendix of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Adults, Jonathan S. Abramowitz and Ryan J Jacoby have a helpful resource titled Everyone Has Intrusive Thoughts. If you are a current client of mine and would like to read this, please let me know. A brief excerpt (Appendix Three, J. S. Abramowitz and R. J. Jacoby: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Adults, copyright 2015 Hogrefe Publishing):
"What many people do not realize is that practically everyone experiences unwanted intrusive thoughts (whether or not they have OCD). These sorts of thoughts are as much a part of normal human thinking as are fantasies and daydreams about positive events. The focus of this handout is to teach you that the unpleasant, distressing, repugnant, bizarre, and senseless obsessional thoughts that you are experiencing are not dangerous or abnormal."
"...people without OCD experience the same kinds of unwanted and intrusive thoughts as do people with OCD. The list below shows some examples of intrusive thoughts reported by people without OCD:
Thought of jumping off the bridge onto the highway below
Thought of running my car off the road or into oncoming traffic
Thought of poking something into my eyes
Impulses to jump onto the tracks as a train comes into the station"
The list continues quite extensively and they further describe how someone without OCD handles these thoughts versus what someone with OCD might do.
Article on Existential and Philosophical OCD located on the IOCDF website iocdf.org/expert-opinions/to-be-or-not-to-be-that-is-the-obsession-existential-and-philosophical-ocd/
Article on Perfectionism, located on the IOCDF website iocdf.org/expert-opinions/perfectionism/
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