Self-Help Exposures for OCD

While I encourage everyone experiencing OCD to match with an Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) Coach and Therapist to begin their healing journey, some may benefit from trying out some self-directed exposures to understand the basic principles of ERP.  

Here are three simple exposures you can do at home.  Remember, the point of these is to feel unease and be able to sit with, cope with, and let go of this unease.  Compulsions offer us false soothing, while exposures offer us resilience building.  

1.Purposeful forgetfulness.

Our OCD compulsions may involve a complicated ritual every time we leave the house to ensure that we have taken everything we need.  I would like you to try a day of purposeful forgetting.  While it may be distressing to arrive at the supermarket without your phone or whatever may come from this exercise, we learn that this outcome is manageable.  

2. Change up some small aspect of your routine.

If you drive to work a certain way every day, consider taking a different road.  If you wash your hair before you wash your body, switch that up.  Every disruption in routine, even very minor ones, will support your development of cognitive flexibility.  We learn that we do not need to do things the same way every day, even if that is more comfortable.  We learn to tolerate change and this sets us up for future, more challenging disruptions of patterns.   

3. Let go of at least one action item on every to-do list.    

Similar to physical clutter, our to-do lists can have a fair amount of extraneous tasks that feel like they need to be done.  Practice walking away from these tasks and actively choosing to let them go.  Sit with the distress of non-completion until you can reach a feeling of renewed freedom.  Even those of us with the most rigid OCD presentations experience some pleasure at the letting go of unnecessary expectations. 

To connect with an Exposure Response Prevention Therapist, contact Kairos Wellness Collective today.