OCD Straight Talk

By Chris Leins, MA, NCC, LPCC-SHealth & Fitness Mental Health

OCD Straight Talk episodes

April 12, 2024 Is It Objective Danger or OCD?
Chris recaps several concepts that raise the question: How do you tell the difference between OCD and objective danger? While a number of answers could be presented to the question, Chris offers two.
Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to [email protected].
If you've found the podcast helpful, consider giving us a 5-star rating and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with your anxiety- or OCD-symptoms.
18 min
April 05, 2024 I Got Anxiety but Not OCD
Chris responds to an oft' repeated phrase, "Well, I have anxiety, but I don't have OCD. And for fun, he also addresses several myths and misunderstands relative to the diagnosis and treatment of the anxiety-related disorders.
Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to [email protected].
If you've found OCDST helpful, consider giving us a 5-star rating and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with your anxiety- or OCD-symptoms.
24 min
March 15, 2024 What Causes A Relapse of OCD?
Chris discusses several ideas and studies, and works through conversations he typically has with patients at various points of the clinical process.
Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to [email protected].
If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with you anxiety-symptoms.
18 min
March 04, 2024 Do Intrusive Thoughts Show Up Differently for Some People?
Chris responds to a listener's question regarding how obsessions or intrusive thoughts might be experienced differently across the OCD-population. He lists kinds and categories of intrusive thoughts and provides several cases examples from his own experience.
Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to [email protected].
If you've found the podcast helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating/review and subscribing to OCD Straight Talk for more structured help with your anxiety- or OCD-symptoms.
24 min
February 23, 2024 How Can Family Members Help OCDers?
Chris discusses the difference between the style and persona of a good OCD-therapist and the supportive way of a truly helpful family member. It's about balancing two opposing ideas. But many family members fall too far to one side or the other.
Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to [email protected].
If you've OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving us a 5-star rating/review, and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with you anxiety or OCD-symptoms.
17 min
February 16, 2024 Obsession + Evidence + Possibility = Oh Sh*t?
Chris presents the idea that there's always some evidence, some reason to perceive intrusive thoughts as reality. This coupled with the reasonable possibility of feared outcomes heightens anxiety for OCDers. Evidence makes the thoughts feel real ... even if the evidence can point to several conclusions. So the question isn't, Can I dismantle or disprove the evidence; it's, Can I tolerate the uncertainty. It's, Can I act as if my intrusive thoughts aren't happening?
Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to [email protected].
If you've found OCD Straight Talk helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating, and subscribing to the podcast for more structured help with you anxiety- or OCD-symptoms.
13 min
February 09, 2024 How Do I "Get Rid" of My Thoughts?
Chris presents a conversation he often has with patients at the beginning of treatment. Expectations are powerful things, including if they're unrealistic. So having healthy and reasonable expectations is important, especially when it what we should expect to get out of therapy.
Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to [email protected].
If you've found the podcast helpful, consider giving it a 5-star rating and subscribing to OCD Straight Talk for more structured help with you anxiety, or OCD-symptoms.
17 min
February 02, 2024 What Exactly Is OCD?
Chris presents a definition for OCD that extends outside of the diagnostic criteria. "Why?," you might wonder. The answer is because the diagnostic criteria is so inclusive that it doesn't actually exclude very much at all.
Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have to [email protected].
If you've found the podcast helpful, consider giving OCD Straight Talk a 5-star rating and subscribing for more structured help with your anxiety- or OCD symptoms.
12 min
January 27, 2024 Focus More; Ruminate Less - Here's How
Chris discusses an attentional principle that is readily observable for most people. You can't both ruminate and engage the goings-on of the here-and-now at the same time. You're either doing one or the other, even if that means that you're quickly switching back and forth between the two. Chris builds on this concept and provides a practical strategy to harness the principle in order to make gains on rumination.
16 min
January 22, 2024 The Versatility of Behavior-Change, Pillar 5
Chris discusses a personal journey with interpersonal boundaries, confrontation, and self-esteem. He chronicles a time he confronted a person in his life who historically treated him badly; and described how he felt about himself after having done that. He then ties this into OCD-treatment, and works to show the power of behavior-change, no matter the situation you're in.
21 min