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Preparing for ERP Therapy
Lately, I’ve been talking to some brave, amazing people who are planning to tackle cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), specifically exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP). I know it’s the...
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A Metaphor for Obsessive-Compulsives
A new friend came over to my apartment the other week, and we got to talking about Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy, and I shared a metaphor with her that I’d like to share with you now....
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I Confess
I don’t want to admit this to you. I really don’t. But I’ve made such efforts to be honest with my blogging community, and the wonderful, encouraging reception I’ve always gotten from you, my beloved...
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Sweet Freedom
Alison Dotson, president of OCD Twin Cities, and I were emailing recently about how sometimes we feel as if we say the same thing post after post, article after article, especially since they usually...
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The [Beautiful] Paradox of ERP
Exposure and response prevention therapy. ERP. The hardest thing I have ever chosen to do in my life. And one of the best. But that’s not actually the paradox I’m talking about. The paradox of ERP that...
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Self-Directed ERP Therapy
If you’ve spent any time hanging around this blog, you know that I’m a huge proponent of treating OCD with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy, which is the best treatment available. It’s...
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Talk Therapy vs. ERP Therapy
Sometimes I give talk therapy a rough time on this blog– but, please know that I am not against talk therapy (I see a talk therapist weekly for panic and adjustment disorder). I am merely against talk...
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No Shortcuts
When Jeff Bell, spokesperson for the International OCD Foundation, spoke for our OCD Twin Cities event, one of the things he said that really stood out to me was that there are no shortcuts in treating...
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Thoughts on Freedom of Various Kinds
I moved yesterday. All went quite well. I first moved into my old apartment in 2008, right as I started to write Lights All Around, my first novel. Those walls have seen so much, including complete and...
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Why Meds?
A blog reader emailed me and asked, “If you are okay with sharing this, could you tell me why you chose to stay on your medication after ERP?” My response: For me, meds are a chemical tool to slow my...
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OCD Q&A from JLS
Here are some OCD-related questions I’ve been asked by blog readers. As always, keep in mind that I’m not a doctor or a therapist, just an OCD survivor. (Note: I’ve been using the term “OCD survivor” a...
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Question & Dancer: OCD & Family, Romanticizing Mental Illness, and What to...
I’m an artist not an expert, one who is learning to embrace questions more than answers. These are some questions I got last month. Ask yours here. How do you explain OCD to your family? Especially...
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May the Free Make Others Free
Originally published on The Redeeming Things blog in September 2013. Edited only slightly here; note that where I talk about four years of freedom … it has now been nine. Amen. Last week, while...
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Question & Dancer: What is “Normal” with OCD?
I’m an artist not an expert, one who is learning to embrace questions more than answers. These are some questions I got last month. Ask yours here. My question is this.. I have hocd but whatever I do...
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Question & Dancer: When OCD Makes You Doubt You Have OCD [& More]
I’m an artist not an expert, one who is learning to embrace questions more than answers. These are some questions I got last month. Ask yours here. Is it normal to become hypersensitive to the looks...
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nOCD, an ERP App/Hero
If you’ve spent time around this blog, you know that I wrestled my life and freedom back from the clutches of obsessive-compulsive disorder in 2008. (Read more about my story at...
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Healed Not Cured: OCD Remission & Relapses
I got an email this past weekend from a lovely blog reader who has found victory over obsessive-compulsive disorder through exposure therapy. It’s such a joy any time someone shares a story of freedom,...
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“Help! My parents won’t believe me!”
I got this question just today: I’m a 12 year old girl and I have ocd but my mom doesn’t believe me I’ve emailed many people who study ocd and they have said that I have pure ocd so what do I do. This...
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