I’m guessing that you’ve landed on this page as you have just taken my test on HOCD. I am going to outline what options are open to you if you are serious about overcoming HOCD. If you are not sure who I am, my name is Elaine, and I am the psychologist behind MoodSmith.
I am not going to discuss HOCD in detail in this article, but you can read everything you need to know about it in my Guide.
Regardless of whether you would like my help ( I have an online course that gives you the same things you would get if you saw me in person ) or decide to meet with someone else, these are the things that you need to address.
- Obsessions
- Compulsions
- Behaviours
- Anxiety and Stress
And I shall list my recommended models of therapy before I go on to explain it all to you!
The recommended treatment for HOCD is CBT – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. CBT includes Exposure Response Prevention (ERP); I mention that, as I have found that people look for a therapist for ERP, when in fact, it all should be done within Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
I find that people tend to do better if they also undertake some Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and have an understanding of the brain.
Now I shall explain it in a way that makes more sense!
If you would like my help
Structured self-help course for HOCD from the privacy of your home
Dr Ryan: Psychologist and Founder of MoodSmith
User-friendly steps to overcoming HOCD
Learn how to work with your thoughts and images
This can be achieved using CBT, where you will be taught how to correct your thought processes. It is also achieved differently through Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, where you shall learn to accept your thought processes.
Why this helps
Your thoughts are one of the main things that keep you stuck in the HOCD cycle. Think about it. You would probably feel much better if you didn’t have the thoughts! Sounds too simple? CBT and Acceptance and Commitment (ACT) will help you relate to your thought differently, in a more helpful way, as I can take a safe guess that your thoughts are not helpful at the moment.
Stop seeking reassurance
Or another way to think of this is to learn how to stop doing what you are doing to get reassurance. This could be learning to stop.
- analysing it in your head
- ‘checking’ to make sure you are not gay
- ‘checking’ to make sure you are still attracted to members of the opposite sex
Why this helps
Not only does the ‘reassurance seeking’ not help, but it also keeps HOCD going. Getting over HOCD is about teaching you to stop doing the things that contribute to your current feelings.
Stop avoiding
You could be avoiding people, places or things that you think might ‘trigger’ your HOCD or make you feel worse. Learning not to avoid things teaches your brain that you are okay, as I find (and you will find in my course) that the things you are doing help make things worse.
Why this helps
Once you stop avoiding, you start to get your life back to normal, but you need to manage stress.
Manage anxiety and stress
This is a must. I think I can safely assume that HOCD will be causing you distress. In addition, we (as human beings) do not change well – it makes us anxious! Learning to manage anxiety is fundamental to the changes you have to make to overcome HOCD; that is why I included an entire program dedicated to managing anxiety, with the course on overcoming HOCD!
Why this helps
Being able to manage stress helps you with all of the above! It also takes the fear away.
Stay out of your head and stop analysing.
Most, if not all, of the distress occurs inside your head. You suffer because of the constant doubt regarding your sexuality, the constant checking, the constant analysis. All this occurs inside your head, but you can learn to let this go. This is achieved by
- having an understanding of what is happening to you, and
- by undertaking mindfulness, which I have also included in the course
Why this helps
Once you understand what is happening to you, you will start to see this as something happening to you instead of your sexuality changing. Once you understand its nature, for example, the obsessions and compulsions, it takes the fear away. It is like standing back from it all and seeing what is happening in your head.
