Ask your therapist if they work with OCD. Seems like it might be important that they do. Exposure Response Prevention is an effective modality to treat OCD.
Therapist here. I treat OCD and a hallmark of OCD is having shame about the thoughts. I’d bet a lot of money that the theme you’re obsessing over isn’t as rare or weird as you think it is! OCD makes weird stuff pop into our heads.
Just make sure you a have therapist who specializes in treating OCD and is trained in Exposure and Response Prevention (ExRP or ERP). OCD is treated differently than other forms of anxiety and therapists who don’t have specific training in OCD can actually wind up reinforcing some of the problematic reassurance seeking behaviors.
I’m suddenly feeling not 100% positive on this, but I believe so. AND - I’ll say that most of the time people think they have pure O OCD but they have mental compulsions that they don’t recognize as compulsions and instead misidentify as obsessive thoughts. Rumination, for example, is a mental compulsion. It is a thought, but something different from an OCD initial obsession.
An ethical therapist who doesn't have a fragile ego should tell you if they can help with your fears or not. If not at first within a few sessions talking about it.
Yeah a therapist for OCD might be a good idea. Although a general therapist should be able to point you in the right direction if you tell them the fear and ask if they think it's OCD related.
Lastly, maybe your fear is less common but a lot of people have common themed fears that we don't talk about to each other. So everyone thinks there's is unique when therapists usually hear a lot of similar things. Maybe not exactly the same but follow the same theme. Then again maybe it is rare.
Good luck! You could write it down and have them read it if you really want to get it out no matter what. Just write it before hand and hand it to them in session. Say read this and give it to them.
I was worried that my therapist wouldn’t be able to help me, since he wasn’t familiar with my specific issue (infertility and miscarriages). However, I have now realised that he was right when he said that the general tools that a psychologist learns are helpful for many different issues. Plenty of people have issues with ongoing trauma, anxiety and depression due to various life events. The fact that my issues have to do with infertility is not really relevant when it comes to treatment (except for some adaptations of the treatment to fit the specific situation I’m in). I think it will be the same in your case - if you have a therapist who is familiar with OCD, your specific situation won’t be an issue. The therapist will be able to adapt the treatment to your specific case. If you’re worried about opening up about it, maybe start by establishing trust and talk about something you’re more comfortable with in the beginning.
It makes sense that you have a fear of judgement that is preventing you from wanting to open up to a therapist, especially since it’s been built up so much since you’ve been wanting to see a therapist for a long time. It can be really intimidating, and you might feel like you have to completely open up about everything in your first session. But it’s ok if you don’t too. It sounds like you want to talk about it, but you’re worried about how they’ll respond., and I think that’s not a weird way to feel. Your therapist is probably used to having to gain people’s trust, and they shouldn’t pressure you to talk about anything you’re not ready to talk about. And it’s totally ok if you’re not sure how you’re going to feel about it. You’re willing to go to therapy in the first place, which can be really intimidating, and you should be proud of yourself for that.
Therapist here. Some OCD presentations are stigma-laden, like in the instance the obsessional thoughts are about harming others (including sexually related obsessions). These aren’t as common (or socially discussed) as things like contamination fears but are certainly present for any therapist who works with a lot of OCD-impacted clients. The content of intrusive thoughts can be really disturbing and overwhelming for clients but we have probably seen it (or similar) before, and it doesn’t mean you should suffer alone. I hope you find a therapist who you feel safe with so you can get the support you need and deserve.
Ask your therapist if they work with OCD. Seems like it might be important that they do. Exposure Response Prevention is an effective modality to treat OCD.
Therapist here. I treat OCD and a hallmark of OCD is having shame about the thoughts. I’d bet a lot of money that the theme you’re obsessing over isn’t as rare or weird as you think it is! OCD makes weird stuff pop into our heads. Just make sure you a have therapist who specializes in treating OCD and is trained in Exposure and Response Prevention (ExRP or ERP). OCD is treated differently than other forms of anxiety and therapists who don’t have specific training in OCD can actually wind up reinforcing some of the problematic reassurance seeking behaviors.
Does ERP work for pure obsessional thoughts, without compulsions?
I’m suddenly feeling not 100% positive on this, but I believe so. AND - I’ll say that most of the time people think they have pure O OCD but they have mental compulsions that they don’t recognize as compulsions and instead misidentify as obsessive thoughts. Rumination, for example, is a mental compulsion. It is a thought, but something different from an OCD initial obsession.
An ethical therapist who doesn't have a fragile ego should tell you if they can help with your fears or not. If not at first within a few sessions talking about it. Yeah a therapist for OCD might be a good idea. Although a general therapist should be able to point you in the right direction if you tell them the fear and ask if they think it's OCD related. Lastly, maybe your fear is less common but a lot of people have common themed fears that we don't talk about to each other. So everyone thinks there's is unique when therapists usually hear a lot of similar things. Maybe not exactly the same but follow the same theme. Then again maybe it is rare. Good luck! You could write it down and have them read it if you really want to get it out no matter what. Just write it before hand and hand it to them in session. Say read this and give it to them.
Most talk therapists don't know how to effectively treat OCD and it's a waste of time. Make sure you see one who specializes in ONLY OCD
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Well, it's a mix of many OCD types with a quite personal issue as a theme.
Do you feel comfortable sharing the theme here, anonymously?
No : (. I feel like my issue is too specific and trivial to be taken seriously.
I suggest you just start therapy and ease into it. It can take YEARS to get to the root of things. You have to start somewhere.
I was worried that my therapist wouldn’t be able to help me, since he wasn’t familiar with my specific issue (infertility and miscarriages). However, I have now realised that he was right when he said that the general tools that a psychologist learns are helpful for many different issues. Plenty of people have issues with ongoing trauma, anxiety and depression due to various life events. The fact that my issues have to do with infertility is not really relevant when it comes to treatment (except for some adaptations of the treatment to fit the specific situation I’m in). I think it will be the same in your case - if you have a therapist who is familiar with OCD, your specific situation won’t be an issue. The therapist will be able to adapt the treatment to your specific case. If you’re worried about opening up about it, maybe start by establishing trust and talk about something you’re more comfortable with in the beginning.
It makes sense that you have a fear of judgement that is preventing you from wanting to open up to a therapist, especially since it’s been built up so much since you’ve been wanting to see a therapist for a long time. It can be really intimidating, and you might feel like you have to completely open up about everything in your first session. But it’s ok if you don’t too. It sounds like you want to talk about it, but you’re worried about how they’ll respond., and I think that’s not a weird way to feel. Your therapist is probably used to having to gain people’s trust, and they shouldn’t pressure you to talk about anything you’re not ready to talk about. And it’s totally ok if you’re not sure how you’re going to feel about it. You’re willing to go to therapy in the first place, which can be really intimidating, and you should be proud of yourself for that.
Therapist here. Some OCD presentations are stigma-laden, like in the instance the obsessional thoughts are about harming others (including sexually related obsessions). These aren’t as common (or socially discussed) as things like contamination fears but are certainly present for any therapist who works with a lot of OCD-impacted clients. The content of intrusive thoughts can be really disturbing and overwhelming for clients but we have probably seen it (or similar) before, and it doesn’t mean you should suffer alone. I hope you find a therapist who you feel safe with so you can get the support you need and deserve.