The focus for this weeks episode is harm OCD. This can be a particuarly hard OCD theme and people often really struggle with their thioughts. The fact of the matter is though that people with harm OCD are normally some of the kindest people in the world, which is why thoughts about harm are so disturbing for them. Paradoxically this revulsion to such thoughts also creates more of them. What we forcefully try and push away, often comes back to us and this creates the OCD cycle. Harm OCD then is no different from any other OCD and we can deal with it the same, through acceptance of the thoughts and standing up to our fears about them.

 

In todays episode I interview the OCD therapist Kelley Frank AMFT about how we can learn to manage harm OCD more effectively. Kelley Franke is Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist at the OCD Center of Los Angeles where she specializes in CBT, with a focus on Exposure & Response Prevention, in adults, adolescents, and children suffering from OCD, and other Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders, including body-focused repetitive behaviors. Kelley completed her Masters in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University. Prior to completing her graduate work she trained as a behavioral assistant at the OCD Center of Los Angeles. Additionally, she completed training in DBT from Behavioral Tech Research through The Linehan Institute and integrates many DBT based skills in her work with clients.

 

To find out more about Kelley, you can go to her website: www.mindfullyanxious.com