OCD treatment – Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a relatively common (although people don’t talk about it) form of anxiety, brought on by intrusive thoughts that generate extremely anxious feelings or may even instigate panic attacks.

Adults with OCD find (seemingly irrational) strategies to manage this anxiety. These strategies often involve obsessive behaviours that become more and more repetitive in nature to appease the thoughts that if they did not do them their anxiousness would be further fuelled.

Some OCD sufferers go undiagnosed for many years, partially because of a lack of understanding of the condition, and partially because of intense feelings of embarrassment, guilt and sometimes even shame. They recognise that their anxiety disorder and subsequent actions may seem strange to others (and to themselves) and may come across as paranoid, this may even further distress them.

Treatment for OCD starts with a new point of view

In my experience OCD is a very unhelpful label, people do not have OCD, it’s not an illness – many people lead very normal lives before (and after) the onset of this obsessive and anxiety ridden way of thinking, behaving and unconsciously processing information.

I call it COD not OCD, Carefully Orchestrated Dilemas – typically, anxious people run dozens of ‘what if’ scenarios in their minds until they begin to frighten themselves. They feel that they are not in control, however, the reverse is true, they are very in-control of what they do (or don’t do), they are very in-control of stopping people around them doing things, they are very in-control of not going to work, not facing the world, not going shopping…..

In fact, they don’t want to follow other peoples rules (they feel they are exempt).  They don’t want to do the very things that everybody else has to do. They think they are the victim, however, they are the ones trying to control everything. Spend a moment or two to think about this, because it is an important part of changing the rules.

It’s true that some aspects of the brain may get a little disrupted after traumatic events (abuse, bereavement, losing a baby or giving a child away for adoption, rejection, experiences that lower self esteem etc.) or periods of extended stress and anxiety

Typically, it is the Caudate Nucleus part of the brain that tends to dysfunction when obsessive behaviours are being experienced. This part acts much like a switch, when it is off everything is OK and we are calm, however, when it is on we feel like some form of  action is required.

A person whose experiences this anxiety disorder may find that due to excessive worrying and lots of negative introspection over a long period of time their Caudate Nucleus gets stuck in the ‘on’ position. Normally, you might check if the door is locked (switch set to ‘on’ therefore you need an action) so, you lock the door (switch get sets to ‘off’ so you can relax).

For a person who has re-programmed themselves via prolonged and excessive negative thoughts the switch does not flip back to the off position after the initial action, so they remain fearful. This applies not only to physical actions like checking doors, washing hands etc. but also, for thoughts and ruminations “if I don’t spend time thinking about X then something bad may happen etc.

Luckily our brain is very malleable and is quick to adapt when new strategies are applied so this minor dysfunction can be circumnavigated and whilst your levels of stress and anxiety decrease it often reverts back to normal.

So, because this automatic switching part of the brain is temporarily out of order I will show you how to do this manually – how you can use conscious thoughts and a more thorough understanding of your emotions to give the brain the time it needs to rewire itself.

“I’ve always been a bit anxious throughout my later years and it got to the stage where I had to do something to help me regain control in certain areas of my life.  I remember the first time I spoke with John; it was like someone had fully opened my verbal taps, I just blurted a load of stuff out and John patiently listened. Bearing in mind, this is unlike me as I used to be one of those people who bottled my emotions up, especially during my childhood. Even after that first phone call (which incidentally was only to arrange my first appointment) I felt so much better and knew John was the right person to help me out.  If you are struggling with anxiety, OCD or you just need some guidance on how to get your life back on an even keel then John is your man. It’s not all about hypnosis, it’s about what’s right in front of your nose; and John helps you recognise this. On top of everything else John genuinely cares and as far as I’m concerned that makes him one of life’s good guys.

OCD therapy

When you work with me we look at overcoming obsessions and compulsions from a whole new point of view. We start by answering (what I think) are important questions about where the panic attacks and related anxiety come from, questions like:

• “Where does my anxiety come from?”

• “Why is it happening?”

• “How can I stop it?”

• “If I recover, will it return?”

This is important – I thoroughly explain to you what anxiety is, how panic attacks are formed, what the body is doing by instigating these fearful anxious episodes and then show you how to take back control of them.

By fully understanding how you become hijacked by your emotions and what is biologically happening within yourself you can begin to move more towards accepting and retraining these anxious moments rather than (as an OCD sufferer) trying to avoid them or remaining a victim to their whims.

I know that Overcoming OCD is not easy, the process is easy (but it’s not simple). The longer you live with these obsessive feelings the more you try to rationalise and normalise the compulsions and they become almost habit like. What used to confound your partner just becomes accepted and in some instances they help, for example, they too might wash their hands more often or become more security conscious. It’s sad to say too, that some children adopt the habits of their parents as normal.

So, it’s not easy and it will take time, but it is possible, especially when you have someone like me to work very closely with you and who can show you exactly how your emotions are tricking you and what you need to do about it.

How long does it take to overcome OCD?

Overcoming Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a journey that can’t be rushed! It probably took you years to get into these routines and your unconscious nervous system has been pushed and pulled in all directions through anxiety and panic attacks and is both emotionally exhausted and way out of calibration. This takes at least 4 – 6 months to normalise once you know what you need to do.

If you are serious about letting go of anxiety and obsessive ruminations then you will have to embark on this journey with a lot of patience and a new determination, knowing that the payback will be way down the line, however, with the knowledge that you can get your life back.

The therapy sessions don’t need to last this long – they help to arm you with all the awareness and emotional tools you need to take back control.

As you stop being a victim to the fear of your emotions there will be good days and there will be bad days. Your unconscious mind will try to draw you back to the old ways because (as far as it is concerned) they were safe, miserable, but safe. All the new ways of doing and being that will take you to recovery will seem new and scary, so dig deep, be patient and begin to build a vision of how you would like life to be – because there is nothing more energising than a person with a vision.

Top tips for ending OCD

• It will take time, you will need to be patient
• You will need to do things differently
• You will need to move from a negative outlook to a more positive one
• You will need to trust that by following my plan you will recover
• The human mind can ‘rewire’ itself
• Anxiety doesn’t have to be scary
• You can’t beat anxiety by avoiding things that make you anxious!
• Your mind can’t tell the difference between a thought, an event and a dream
• You will need to face your demons, but from a new place of understanding
• You will need a plan of what you will do & who you will be once it is gone

How to overcome OCD & anxiety attacks treatment

Once I have explained to you how anxiety and panic attacks are formed, what the body is doing by instigating these fearful anxious episodes, obsessive thoughts and compulsive actions – then your anxiety disorder can be looked upon from within a new framework.

By fully understanding how you become hijacked by your emotions and what is biologically happening within yourself you can begin to move more towards accepting and retraining these anxious moments rather than (as an OCD sufferer) trying to avoid them or remaining a victim to their whims.

I know that Overcoming OCD is not easy, the process is easy (but it’s not simple). The longer you live with these obsessive feelings the more you try to rationalise and normalise the compulsions and they become almost habit like. What used to confound your partner just becomes accepted and in some instances they help, for example, they too might wash their hands more often or become more security conscious.

So, it’s not easy, but it is possible, especially when you have someone like me to work very closely with you and who can show you exactly how your emotions are tricking you and what you need to do about it.

Therapy for OCD and your unconscious awareness

When I work with you on treating OCD and related conditions, we do so from the perspective of how the unconscious mind and the unconscious nervous system operate. Whereas, typically, most people who experience OCD symptoms try to analyse their feelings, actions and their anxiety from a logical conscious point of view – and this often leaves them feeling confused and frustrated.

Once you know what is happening inside you we can begin the OCD therapy. I use a range of safe psychological techniques because everybody is unique and each responds in differing ways, we’ll find the most appropriate one for you. Allowing you to apply exposure and response protection techniques whilst remaining in a more calm state of control.

Some of the techniques I apply are – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, NLP, Hypnotherapy, Exposure Therapy and EFT. Additional treatments can help, such as, Parts Integration Therapy where we focus on updating outdated unconscious emotional and physical responses.

If we consider the unconscious mind – it is here that many of our emotions and physical responses originate and this older part of our brain seems to over-ride the more modern prefrontal cortex which is more preoccupied with thought and reason.

That’s why you might say to yourself “I don’t want this anymore” which is a conscious statement, yet your unconscious just keeps doing what it thinks is right.

Your unconscious mind is concerned with keeping you safe, with food, shelter and reproduction – just like most mammals. The problems is (compared to our conscious mind) our unconscious seems to generate very child like or simplistic strategies. So, the part of us that is poor at generating strategies is over-riding the part of us that is good at generating strategies and we don’t realise this is happening.

So, unconsciously you are being driven to some behaviour (OCD symptoms) that “keeps you safe” although “safe” can mean many things to many different people – and that can be completely out of date too.

But what are these intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviours keeping you safe from? Often a whole range of phobias, such as, Agoraphobia, Emetophobia, Claustrophobia, Social Phobia can begin (as a poor unconscious strategy) to “keep you safe from”

• Safe from somebody

• Safe from judgement

• Safe from a being a victim (even though you are now a victim in a different way)

• Safe from something happening

• Safe from illness

• Safe from having to make decisions

• Safe from taking responsibility

It’s almost like a nuisance strategy that keeps on reinforcing itself so much, until the original reason for its implementation is often forgotten about. The strategy gets its power from using anxiety as a way of making you fearful and once again forcing you into a victim point of view.

It’s when you decide to NOT be a “victim” anymore to these obsessive compulsions and feelings that you can begin to move forward.

When your anxiety disorder goes – then what?

So, that then, initiates the next question, which is – “If I didn’t have these obsessive compulsions what would it enable me to do?”

What demons would you have to face up to? What new job would you have to get? What relationships would you need to change? Who would you be?

I hope you can begin to see the dichotomy here – the very thing that the anxiety is keeping you safe from is, in fact, the solution to treating obsessive compulsive disorder.

Getting the help you need for anxiety and OCD

This unwanted anxiety disorder, intrusive thoughts and compulsions are treatable. It is a journey and it does take time, but it is possible. I use a range of psychological techniques that gently update the unconscious mind and stops it from hijacking you. At the same time I work closely with you to make visible unconscious emotional conflicts that you may have developed to ‘hide’ or ‘rationalise’ your behaviours to others (and yourself) – if there are bad memories or events that may have triggered your anxieties I can work through these with you to lessen any emotional responses, such as, guilt, shame, fear and allow you to regain more confidence and control.

Whilst enabling you to overcome your OCD we also work on “what next?” “who am I?” and quietening the voices in your mind, as these are essential elements of generating a new foundation for you to move forward from.

OCD Buckingham OCD Milton Keynes OCD Buckinghamshire

My office is in Buckingham Buckinghamshire on the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire – I will focus on your problem and will do all I can to get your emotions back under control in the shortest time and with empathy, integrity and professional knowledge. You can read about my guarantees, fees and FAQ’s about my therapy. Please have a look around the site and get a feel for how I work, perhaps read some of my client testimonials and when you are ready give me a call we can informally talk about what is possible.

You can read more about anxiety here