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 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 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 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 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