Dr Elaine Ryan

Written By Dr Elaine Ryan.

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Dr Elaine Ryan PsychD is a highly experienced Chartered Psychologist with 20+ years of experience in treating OCD and Anxiety Disorders. Member of the British Psychological Society (BPS), Division of Neuropsychology | EuroPsy Registered| Member of The UK Society For Behavioural Medicine 

How does cognitive diffusion help with OCD?

man with magnifying glass looking at explanation of cognitive diffusion with Moodsmith logo

I’ve been talking about cognitive diffusion over the past couple of days and today want to show how it can help with OCD. If you have read my previous post you will already know that it comes from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). It’s not about changing the thoughts themselves, but how we interact with … Read more

Understanding Cognitive Diffusion: A Comprehensive Guide

image of person mediation with word cognitive diffusion, learn to detach from your thoughts and MoodSmith logo

Yesterday, I wrote about using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with CBT to help with the emotional distress experienced with OCD and briefly introduced the concept of cognitive diffusion and decided that I shall spend some time today talking about that. Cognitive diffusion is a term that stems from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). It’s all … Read more

Utilising ACT alongside CBT for OCD

therapy group with Moodsmith logo and words ACT and CBT for OCD

How ACT principles like mindfulness and defusion from thoughts can complement ERP, helping you manage the emotional distress of obsessions. Today, I want to discuss how therapy models can work together to help with OCD. Specifically, I shall be talking about how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can work with the exposure and response prevention … Read more

Virtual reality exposure therapy in OCD

image of man with VR headset wearing shirt with MoodSmith logo and words virtual reality for ocd

Treatments for OCD have come such a long way from the dark ages of therapy, saying that it was untreatable to embracing Virtual Reality to simulate exposure therapy. Today, I want to look at that technology, specifically Virtual Reality, as exposure therapy for OCD. Traditional exposure therapy is a well-known and effective treatment for OCD. … Read more