Types of Compulsions
What is Cleaning or Washing Compulsions?
What it looks like:
Excessive handwashing
Avoiding “dirty” objects
What is Pause & Notice?
Building awareness before acting and notice the thought and think it through
Who is Peanut?
Peanut is a Hippo wearing a bathing suit. When we are told not to think about him, we think about him more.
Reminds us that if we have a thought, telling ourselves to not thinking about it can make us think about it more?
What is Zebra Thinking?
Viewing things in "black and white" without a grey area.
What is a Checking Compulsion ?
What it looks like:
Re-reading homework/messages
Asking “Did I do it right?” repeatedly
What is Delay the Compulsion?
Taking a break before responding
Delay 10 seconds → 30 seconds → 1 minute
How do you take power away from the OCD?
- Use skills
- Challenge the thought
- Remind " A thought is JUST a thought"
What is 'Should, Must, Have To"
Making up strict rules about how we think things "should" be or how we expect them to be.
What is a Repeating Compulsions?
What it looks like:
Doing actions multiple times
Restarting tasks until it feels “right”
What is Ride the Wave?
Letting ourselves feel the uncomfortable feeling until it passes on it`s own.
What is the 54321 Grounding Technique?
4 things you feel
3 things you hear
2 thinks you taste
1 thing you smell
What is Fortune Telling?
Thinking we know the future and effects of our actions
What is Confessing / “Telling” Compulsions?
What it looks like:
Feeling the need to confess thoughts or mistakes
Oversharing to “get it off your chest”
What is Thought Defusion?
Challenging the thought such as :
“That’s my OCD talking”
What is the STOP sign for Compulsions?
Red : STOP
Yellow : Think about it, use a skill, challenge the thought or feeling
Green: Good to go
What is Binocular Trick?
When we make things larger than they are then flip it to smaller size.
What is Avoidance Compulsion?
What it looks like:
Avoiding places, people, objects
Not doing things that trigger anxiety
Feeling if you do something, something will happen
What is Response Prevention?
Not doing the compulsion
- “What do we call facing the fear without the compulsion?”
What is the STOP sign for thoughts?
Stop, thinking, observe, proceed
What is Blaming?
Taking responsibility for things that do not have anything to do with you.