Mindfulness and OCD
In treatment for OCD, we look to bring in practices to assist with helping resisting urges such as mindfulness. Mindfulness is a term that is brought up often in this regard. Mindfulness is defined as being present with your thoughts and emotions without judgement or interpretation. Mindfulness is being fully aware of the moment you are in. Being intentionally mindful is a practice and skill that can be improved upon. Often in life, I may be less intentionally mindful. That can be seen as feeling like I am on “autopilot”. When I am on autopilot, I am less mindfully aware of how I am thinking and feeling. If I am less aware, I may be more likely to engage in an automatic compulsive behavior without having the chance to resist or challenge it. We see that being more mindfully aware in the moment can help disrupt the OCD cycle.
With OCD, being mindful and present in the moment can be difficult and scary. There might be difficult thoughts or uncomfortable sensations in the present moment that might deter you from wanting to be fully present with them. But we will come to see that the more we are able to face these uncomfortable aspects of OCD, the better you can become and managing them without compulsions. Thus lessening the impact the OCD has over you. Mindfulness looks to help you accept what you are thinking and feeling. To not judge those thoughts/sensations or engage with them or ruminate over it. To simply acknowledge it and to accept it. We look to reinforce the acceptance that thoughts are simply just thoughts. That they are not reflective of my true motivation or desire, just simply being thoughts; naturally, biologically occurring.
If I am mindfully aware of my thoughts, I can imagine those thoughts as simply credits rolling on the movie screen while I am sitting in the crowd watching and eating my popcorn. Mindfulness techniques can help you lean to accept the feeling by assessing the situation faced without the use of compulsions. We look to use mindfulness to help lean into the discomfort rather than pull away which might feed into the OCD.
Ways to Practice Mindfulness: The internet offers a wide range of free mindfulness resources. Not all practices are universal, ones may work for some and not for others. So finding the right one that works for you is a task to stay diligent with.
Being aware of sensations during repetitive activities such as walking.
Doing 60 seconds of breathing exercises during a break at work.
Carefully observing objects in nature with an intentional focus on detail.
Doing mindful meditation for 10 minutes every day before work.
Mindful Body scans- see YouTube for free exercises.
ACT leaves down the stream- see YouTube for free exercises.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation.
Mindful Meditation.
Belly breathing.
Meditative practices combined with physical activity, such as yoga or sports.
Goals of Mindfulness:
Focus on the five senses.
Limit distraction.
Practice non-judgment.
Sit with discomfort.
Don’t react.
The goal of mindfulness is not to clear your mind or prevent it from wandering. Your goal is to be present in the moment without judgement or interpretation. Be aware when your mind wanders, when it starts to drift and bring it back to the present moment. Mindfulness practices can be difficult at the start but with more practice, a person can learn to gradually be more and more mindful with each exercise. Mindfulness can be done at any point in the day wherever you are. We want to learn how to naturally build mindfulness into your day seamlessly. To make it part of your routine like brushing your teeth.
Exposure and Response Prevention Treatment:
With all forms of OCD, the gold standard of treatment is exposure and response prevention (ERP). Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) looks at the idea that triggering situations and thoughts are at the core of OCD. Ongoing exposure to these triggers without engagement in rituals can reduce the severity felt. Mindfulness exercises will help assist us in the journey with ERP. Mindfulness will allow you to be more aware as you look to disrupt the OCD cycle. Mindfulness can assist in a variety of disorders. We would look to bring in mindfulness to address OCD, trauma, anxiety, skin picking/hair pulling or phobias.
As a licensed mental health therapist trained in ERP, I will assist you through the exposures and how to implement effective response prevention measures. If you feel that OCD has had a negative impact on your life, you might consider counseling and ERP to learn how to handle it more effectively. Please feel free to reach out for a free consultation, where we can discuss the impacts of OCD and benefits of counseling/ERP.
