My pure o has been so weak now for months, all thanks to your advice. You are a wonderful person, much love and respect.

Regarding the confusion of the difference between learning to not pay attention to your thoughts - e.g through mindfulness and deliberately making them worse. I'll try and answer as clearly as possible. What we have to think about is what is the ultimate goal here? It's to get to the point where the thoughts can come and go and you can not care too much about them. With this in mind there are different ways of achieving this. One way is practicing mindfulness of some kind - through this you can help yourself learn that thoughts are just thoughts and you don't need to do anything about them. In OCD treatment we don't recommend any kind of brushing the thoughts away as this is a way of being in contact with them - we would rather recommend just letting the thought take care of itself while you pay attention to other things. This video is about doing DELIBERATE exposure to the thoughts - i.e doing something that exposes you to them and then potentially making them worse so you learn that you can cope with them. This helps you get to a point of caring less about them in the long run. HOWEVER - this is something you choose to practice - like going to the gym - we are not suggesting you do this every time a thought comes in. So to recap - you are doing ERP - perhaps on a daily basis for 15-30 minutes to learn you can cope with the thoughts and the feelings that come with them and the rest of the time you are practicing refocusing your attention on things other than the thoughts and letting them take care of themselves. I know this is easier said than done. I will be uploading videos on this in the next week or two.

I have been in therapy for my ocd, ten years ago. it was incredibly painful, but it worked and I was a long time free from my problems. Now I have had a lot of changes in my life, which creates OCD. I had forgotten what tools I had. This is a great reminder. Thank you again.

You are helping people like me with crippling ocd and I cant thank you enough for it.

I really like how you include examples about things OCD people consider to be taboo. Because a lot of the treatment process I feel is about overcoming or getting past the idea that certain intrusive thoughts are not to be talked about, and therefore, they must go away on their own. That is a huge issue I faced personally and this video was actually really reassuring. Thank you for your videos, Katie.

Katie your videos have changed my life althrough I have been fighting and almost Living most unsuccessful life , I wud run away from situations instead of facing them , OCD made me mockery in public and my life was not more than a joke , rituals , fear and anxiety now I can actually feel life changing

I hope you know this video is still helping people 12 years later

I am so incredibly grateful for this. You can not imagine how much it did for me today. All my gratitude to you. You are an angel

I finally overcame this in just 1 month, I appreciate your help for people like us

People, please don’t get confused: when she says “special ingredient” all she means is that in addition to not engaging in your ordinarily compulsion after being triggered, you should immediately engage in further purposeful exposure- so if your trigger is an image you want to get rid off, you should resist the avoidance behavior and further amplify the image; and if you’re thought is a doubt, you should leave the doubt unresolved and consciously enumerate and elucidate the possible consequences of leaving the doubt unresolved (e.g., perpetual confusion or being gay forever without knowing it or living with unrecognized urges to kill your loved on or never getting cured from ocd because you’re not doing the therapy correctly).

I hope u r aware of how many people you are helping with these videos. I am very grateful to you.

thank you for you help psychiatrist tina fey, just subbed now x

You are lighting up again, the blown away candles. thanks Katie.

These videos are like a boon! Thank you so much for clearing out my doubts. Of course, It will take time for me to follow them but I'm gonna be strong! More power to OCD Sufferers like me!

May God protect you and your family Katie...

You cured me. I cannot express my gratitude in words. God bless you

Thank you for this video. OCD is a horrible affliction, but as I age the grip it has on me lessens more and more; your advice helps a lot.

You should've carried on with your channel. It's amazing.

These videos are working as a complementary therapy for me! And they are doing wonders!

It took me a year to buy into what you taught in this video. I finally listened closely & applied it & i feel hopeful. This may help. Thank u so much.

Thank you so so much for all of your videos, they are really touching and improving people's lives, I found them very helpful and found myself thinking of bits in them over and over again, even as someone who has researched this stuff loads before. Thank you!

You are a life saver, Ms. d'Ath, I owe you my FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It can be difficult to spot all compulsive reactions e.g. avoidance or mental argument. ERP, ACT, mindfulness are brilliant.

Thank you for sharing, this is an aspect of ERP not spoken about much so thanks for bringing it forward :D

Nice video. Shocking how many OCD sufferers are still unaware of this very effective technique. Videos like this are surely helping to spread the information to those who will benefit.

Thankz Katie for the Golden Rules of ERP😍 Definitely going to try.. Thank you very much again!❤️

You're a life saver ❤❤

I am in China, and there are many OCD patients here, but CBT and ERP treatment are not popularized in China. Many patients have been ill for more than 10 years, have not received effective treatment, and have given up their studies and jobs.

The problem that most OCD patients will find with this I'm sure is: ex. Harm OCD, be careful to not push your family off the stairs, (this ERP) pushes family off the stairs to make it feel worse (that's the opossite that OCD dictates). I can't be the only one finding this wrong, I think most people find ERP difficult to apply because of this thoughts.

maam i cannot do it i feel like im gonna pass out

I remember as a 10 year old boy, I watched the 1979 Amityville Horror movie, and it terrified me to the point where I could not shower alone or go to the restroom alone lest the black ooze came out of the sieves. Even going down the stairs was terrifying as it evoked the scene where George Lutz falls through the basement stairs into a pit of black ooze. But for some reason, I still liked the movie and watched it again,and again, and again, until it did not scare me at all but fascinated me. I even drew my parents nuts as allI could talk about was Amityville. I drew the house on my school notebooks, rewrote the story, and even researched more about the story and the case. So instead of avoiding the movie, I might have done ERP without knowing.

It makes us fearful and we our thoughts will get mooreeee hard in life.

many people don't understand the point of this,you all seem to be so worried about the thought and worried that the thought will continue to stay in your head.It's not the problem in the thought itself it's the anxiety connected to the thought,by relieving the anxiety from the thought , the thought doesn't feel dangerous anymore.if you are worried it's going to stay,ask yourself this. "does it matter if it stays if I don't feel any emotions towards it?"

Hi Katie. Miss u so much❤ pls produce more videos for sufferers like us

Please try to explain how to treat sexual ocd

How do you not do mental compulsions? They just happen and are so automatic. Saying to yourself "don't think that" could become another compulsion on its own

Thanks Katie, you're wonderful.

I have a question about this... I have been practicing meditation and mindfulness to help me with Pure O and it has helped to the point where I am now able to research it more fully without being afraid (hence, finding your video... Which actually my husband found a year ago and tried to get me to watch it but the whole idea of it was too much for me)... In many of your other videos, you tell us just to ignore the thought and in my meditation I am told to imagine brushing them lightly away with a feather but in this video it seems that I should be trying to intensify the thought, which feels more like engaging with it more rather than just ignoring it and letting it pass. I guess it just seems contradictory and I think I might be misunderstanding.

Can I do exposure for pure O just in the mind? Do I need to mark every time I do a compulsion on a piece of paper? This seems to be very difficult for me because it's so difficult to track mental compulsions, I'm doing them all the time!

What I find helps me is to do an nlp technique where you swap the thought that's disturbing or distressing me with a positive thought , vision in turn helps cut it off ,then I repeat it every single time .. I usually swap it for a vision that has made me happy or a want and desire like a house or car I want 1 day . Remember team just like everything IT TO SHALL PASS

thank you ,we need more videos

Wow your video could have saved me a year... I had been terrified for a long time and by watching this now i know that i have found the problem to my months long issue... I didn't know that i had pure o and this seems to be the best solution for me many thanks... God bless you.. Good luck and best regards Im from Iran and in my country you wouldnt find an advice like this

Ms. A'th thank you for your help. I'm 23 and I've been having this since I was 12. It's been over a decade. I hope it's not too late LOL. BTW I subscribed :)

As soon as you started mentioning doing the opposite of what my OCD tells me, I literally tensed up from fear. God this is hard, lol

My compulsions are reassuring myself in my head and rationalising away the thoughts. How do I do the opposite of this?

Thank you for your helpful videos! Can you please talk about scrupulosity OCD, since it is more spiritual and hard to know the outcome of our fears. For example, it would be blasphemous to say the bad intrusive thoughts about religion/God out loud and so one might not be able to do the ERP therapy with this kind of OCD.

The best professional video

Thank you so much ma'am. Your videos have been a great help

Thanks a lot for the videos, which are very clear and understandable.

Thank you so much for posting this.

You are the best .

Okay, please explain the "magical ingredient" part further. I don't have scrupolisty OCD, but as a human being who is a human being, I'm not going to trick myself into loving the Devil either...This goes over my head. It should be enough to accept uncertainty that you COULD (keyword COULD) love the Devil and move on. This is why I kind of hate ERP, because it gets in the way of being a human being with individual interests, Faith's, belief's, etc.

Isn't this contradict ignoring the thought and let it go without giving it any sense? Im confused.

Fantastic videos into the insight of OCD

Thank you! Your videos really help me:)

I usually witness that the ocd epands upon the images and makes them worse and worse to tzz he point that they're traumatizing when exposing to them. It adds level after level of horror. Is that really helpful to stay in that case? Getting carried away by a story that gets worse and worse ?

great video keep up the good work

Also how are you suppose to put this method into affect when your thoughts are trying to make you believe that they are true? That's a big thing for me.

Thank u so much Dr. I have been trying to practise many of your advices and I must say, u r very spot on. Are u perhaps a sufferer yourself? U are very good.

You saved my life, Thank you

you’re so so helpful ;)

Hi Katie thank you so much for your videos:)

The moment I stop doing the repeated rituals to cut the obsessions things starts slipping out of my hand

I think doing the opposite of what your ocd wants is like going to a dark place when you fear it so much, and after you go there a few times, you won't fear it anymore. It's almost the same with ocd, when you do the opposite of the compulsion that ocd wants you to do, you discredit the ocd and you start to let it go

Your channel is really helpful, thank you so much.

I’ve heard that erp is used to treat intrusive thoughts about death and dying. I don’t know how this is possible. my therapist isn’t going to kill me

The only problem with ERP for internal OCD is that exposer can become the compulsion. It becomes a cyclical problem in the end. Constant testing of reactions to the images - are we disgusted enough? Are we aroused? Do we like it? I don't know, I better put the image back in my head to find out! And on and on it goes...This is all common among those with internal OCD. For example, contrary to some bad info online, many if not most people with sexual OCD at times feel arousal from the thoughts or they feel on some level that maybe they like them and other constant doubting. So people "test" or expose themselves over and over to their obsessions (now a compulsion) in their heads until they get bored, no longer feel the sensations, no longer can take it, or find another mental compulsion. For me, the "cure" is more about changing the belief systems underlying the OCD. I don't believe in God so I will never have any scrupulosity OCD. But I love art so I will have artistic OCD at times - does art really have meaning, does some art mean more than others? etc, etc. SO getting back to sexual orientation OCD - I believe that if I get aroused by something, surely that means deep down I want it. It all goes back to the Freudian idea. Even though my therapist says people get aroused by all sorts of taboo, forbidden and just weird things, I still don't believe it. So the good and the bad of it is that until I believe I can be aroused by something and that has nothing to do with my sexual orientation or desire, I will be stuck no matter how much I "expose" my self to the thoughts.

Thank you for sharing ❤

you are great. Thank for your life

Hello Katie. Does it help if you sarcastically agree with your intrusive thoughts?

Too gorgeous. I have to listen to audio only.😯

Thank you very much, this is really helpful!

ERP reminds me of the book by Susan Jeffers . Feel the fear and do it anyway

My Pure OCD manifests as fears of neurological disorders and other kinds of nonsense. I'm seeking treatment and I'm back on mood enhancers. I'm determined to learn techniques with my Therapist to permanently help me cope with the white noise. I'm so sick of this shite!

thank youuu so much i really needed this

I'm about to cry in the train while I'm watching videos of Katie in regards to OCD pure O. I was recently diagnosed with OCPD and for years I have been surviving on my own willpower to go against my thoughts. Realising how fucked up it feels now. Most of my mechanisms are upside down and I'm afraid that each day is going to be the day that I fuck up everything. It hurts realising how what you thought of what's probably normal for everyone, it actually isn't and that I'm dealing with something that's been eating me from the inside. I know this is an old video and I'm not even sure that you'll reach back but what's your opinion in regards to SSRI - meds in response to OCPD - anxiety?

I have an intense fear of swallowing pills, which then unfortunately started to make me develop phagophobia with food in general. I've been exposing myself to food and it's definitely worked somewhat, but not completely yet. I still get pretty bad anxiety when I'm eating with lightheadedness, which makes me afraid to swallow food. what kind of ERP technique could be used against phagophobia???

It's not so easy if you're losing sleep over it. Lack of sleep causes anxiety.

I know that in erp therapy you have to focus on the fear or stimulus, but how do you establish the fine line between that and obsessing over it?

The problem with religious scrupulosity, OCD there is the fear of God, so the person with this kind cannot go and say the intrusive thoughts that anger God. The opposite of saying, for example, a prayer to neutralize the thought, would be to say a curse which is blasphemous. How do you go about with this therapy in this case?

Thank you so much

After watching these videos, I am wondering whether it is possible that if you apply exposures with the wrong dynamics, it could turn into a compulsion itself. So let’s say someone is afraid of some type of devil imagery that pops up in his mind. If this person now starts to think “wow, the devil imagery came to my mind, I MUST start drawing a cartoon of that imagery, otherwise I am scr*wed” then that does also not seem quite okay to me. The ultimate goal is to get the person “not to care” about the imagery or thought that pops up in his mind, right? And basically in order to reach that goal, you should apply ERP probably in the right way...so my question is basically whether there can be a "wrong" and "correct" way of applying ERP

cheers you are a life saver

Very good Katie. My fears have revolved around contamination. It could be exposure to HIV, Asbestos, Radiation or any other hazardous agent and the prospect of doing the opposite of what my OCD tells me to do may genuinely cause harm. I believe that the majority of people are simply not aware of the hazards which permeate our lives and that my concerns are reality and need to be heeded. I suppose it's a matter of perspective but once you know a hazard exists, how can you ignore it? I've always been very sensitive and aware - perhaps that's why I'm so troubled . I'd appreciate your views (anyone!)

Omg no way!!! Thank u and God bless you

I would like to share a problem i have. It all started few days ago when panic that i have something in my trachea or something stuck in my esophagus...so to calm down i started to breath heavy and went to bed continuing to do it, after that it all came ''that awareness of breathing and the thought that if i don't control my breath i will stop doing it'' yea super dumb and illogical i know but still i have that fear and anxiety and that is a huge pain in the *** to fall asleep... any help please .(i'm aware of it , almost all the time except while i magically manage to sleep or rarely when i'm engaged with people.

your videos helped me to overcome my ocd

Keep up the good work if I have the OCD thought of guilt whenever I doing something misappropriate, I feel like confessing to any person. Should I just bear with the guilt and ignore the urge to confess? is confessing a bad thing because that what my OCD want me to do? How do I deal with guilt OCD? even if a guilt is on very small issues?

Hi Katie, are you aware of any link between Pure 'O' and perfectionism?

That's such a bizzare example...

pls make more erp videos for pure o this is really helpful

Thanks for this ❤️

So rearranging furniture is my compulsion so do I just not move the furniture when the compulsion to move it Is really strong?

My Pure O doesn't involve fear. For me, it revolves around dutifulness and guilt. I had high expectations thrust upon me by a religious mother with anger issues. I feel like I have to justify my worth. How, if I'm not afraid of anything, am I supposed to confront my fear? I get online for hours without realizing it in an effort to contribute and feel like I've accomplished something (I suppose). I waste entire days on here. It's disturbing. What am I supposed to confront when this happens? Am I supposed to rip in half a picture of my mother? Am I supposed to slack off and accomplish nothing? Play a video game? How do I use exposure therapy?

My compulsions are all arguments in my head about something i heard someone say or something someone said to me or even a social media post from a year ago. How do i do ERP i have no idea.

I'm not sure how this will help me overcome my fear of my child drowning in a pond? Please advise because generally speaking I am finding your videos very helpful.

Tnx mam..you changed my life

None of this works for me. My OCD turns exposures into a compulsion.

Woweeeee this really helps

Thanks you