OCD is a condition where you become obsessive in your behaviour and/or you have compulsive thoughts. Having any sort of obsession is an unwanted, unpleasant thought and or image which repeatedly enters your mind.
A compulsion is a repetitive behaviour or acts that you feel you must do to prevent your obsession from coming true. An example of this is if you think you’ve left your door unlocked: when you’re leaving your home, you go back and check to see if the doors are locked a number of times before eventually leaving.
OCD symptoms are mentioned below:
• Obsessions. Your thoughts are overwhelming because they have a constant fearful effect on you
• Anxiety. This obsession can have a physical feeling where you experience anxiety and or stress
• Compulsion. By repeatedly behaving in a certain way to reduce your anxiety or stress
• Temporary relief. The compulsive behaviour mentioned above may bring a sense of relief, however, this is short lived and the anxiety/stress will return thus being in a never-ending cycle
Some people who have OCD can also develop depression. Do not ignore these symptoms because if they’re left untreated they can get more severe. Do visit your GP to discuss this – he/she will be able to provide you with some support and provide medication should you wish to take this avenue. They will also likely mention OCD therapy.
During our OCD Counselling, we look at your thought patterns, beliefs and the consequences for example if your OCD is triggered with a belief that you might be burgled.
You will have a thought; ‘I didn’t lock the door which means I’m going to be burgled’, the belief here is that this thought is true and the consequence is that you end up returning to check to see if you locked your door. Then the thought reappears when you leave, meaning you have to repeat the above a number of times.
The way we would look at this is by focusing on your belief system because the thoughts are irrational. You know you would have physically closed the door, turned the handle, put the key in and locked the door. This a method is known as ABC model which stems from CBT.
We have therapists working from Kay’s Counselling office in Birmingham and online via video calling. All our therapists go through a rigorous interview process, aiming to ensure they have the skills and knowledge to help you work through your issues through counselling or psychotherapy.
All our therapists know the level of courage it takes for you to contact us to start your journey, we aim to match the same level of courage in our therapists, who have a desire to help you achieve your goals with their expertise