👉🏼 Watch How OCD Pushes Back Client Example - OCD Recovery

Summary3 min read

Episode Overview

Podcast: OCD Recovery
Host: Ali Greymond, OCD Specialist & Author
Episode: Watch How OCD Pushes Back Client Example
Date: July 17, 2026

This episode centers on the practical process of OCD recovery, focusing on how clients can track and interpret their progress using the Greymond Method through the OCD Help app. Ali Greymond breaks down how OCD tends to "push back" during recovery and demonstrates this with a real example from a client's daily rumination and anxiety tracking. The conversation highlights the importance of persistence, realistic self-assessment, and incremental improvement.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Value of Tracking in OCD Recovery

Tracking is Not About Perfection
- Ali emphasizes that the purpose of tracking rumination and anxiety is not about being exact, but about noticing trends and overall improvement.
- “None of this is exact. Don’t get caught up in like, how am I going to exactly track minutes. This is not about that.” (01:00)
Active vs. Passive Rumination
- The app tracks active rumination (intentional focus on obsessive thoughts) rather than intrusive thoughts themselves.

2. Understanding the Recovery Pattern

Cycles of Progress and Setbacks
- Ali reviews a client's data. The client experiences a drop in rumination and anxiety, followed by a spike, and then another reduction.
- "Something hit this person again. So when you are actively reducing rumination, your OCD is working against you, your OCD is trying to push you into a reaction." (02:30)
- Setbacks are framed as a normal part of the recovery "quest."
Daily and Periodic Self-Assessment
- The client tracks minutes spent ruminating and anxiety level in various time slots throughout the day (Wake-up-9am, 9am-12pm, etc.)
- Each part of the day offers an opportunity to try to "do better" than before.

3. The Mentality for Success

Quest for Incremental Improvement
- The goal is continual improvement, not perfection.
- "We are on... the quest to do better compared to the day before. That is the goal of the tracking." (03:20)
Avoiding a Logging Mentality
- Ali draws a humorous analogy to make her point:
- “It’s not to log, it’s not to tell me, ‘Hey, Ali ate 20 donuts yesterday, 20 donuts today, and intend to eat 20 donuts tomorrow in order to lose weight.’ That’s logging, right? We’re reducing, we’re trying to do better.” (03:55)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Accepting Imperfect Tracking:
“None of this is exact. Don’t get caught up in like, how am I going to exactly track minutes. This is not about that.” — Ali Greymond (01:00)
On OCD’s Resistance:
“When you are actively reducing rumination, your OCD is working against you, your OCD is trying to push you into a reaction.” — Ali Greymond (02:30)
On the Process Mindset:
“It’s that quest that we are on, the quest to do better compared to the day before. That is the goal of the tracking.” — Ali Greymond (03:20)
Humor Highlight:
“It’s not to tell me, ‘Hey, Ali ate 20 donuts yesterday, 20 donuts today, and intend to eat 20 donuts tomorrow in order to lose weight.’ That’s logging, right? We’re reducing, we’re trying to do better.” — Ali Greymond (03:55)

Timestamps for Important Segments

00:00 — Introduction to Tracking with the OCD Help App
01:00 — Purpose of Tracking and Avoiding Perfectionism
02:30 — OCD Pushback and How Setbacks Work
03:20 — Tracking as a Quest for Improvement
03:55 — Logging versus Recovery Analogy

Conclusion

Ali Greymond’s episode provides a relatable, pragmatic look at OCD recovery. She normalizes setbacks, emphasizes self-compassion, and urges listeners to focus not on logging or perfection, but on the process of steady improvement. By using structured tracking and interpreting progress as a nonlinear journey, listeners are encouraged to persist through OCD’s resistance — reframing recovery as a quest to “do better compared to the day before.”

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Transcript1 lines

[00:01]
A
Let's take a look at the recovery process using the Grayman method from the OCD Help app. What you're looking at here is an example of somebody's tracking using OCD Help app. We have the total column of minutes ruminated, active minutes ruminated. Then the next column is W to 9, wake up to 9am, 9 to 12, 12 to 3, 3 to 6, 6 to 9 and 9 to morning. We also are tracking the level of anxiety and the level of overall daily stress. What I want you to look at in this one, if you can zoom in. April 9, right? The person was at level 6 anxiety, then the numbers went up. So it went from 120 minutes ruminated to 500. Obviously the anxiety was level nine. Then the person regulated, pushed forward, reduced ruination, went back to 70 minutes ruminated for the day, level 5 anxiety reduced the next day, rumination further to 60, felt like it was level 2 anxiety. And again, this is interpretation. None of this is exact. Don't get caught up in like, how am I going to exactly track minutes. This is not about that. This is just having an interpretation of what's happening to you in the day or what you're doing in the day rather, because it's active rumination, right? But look at what happened after April 12, April 13. Something hit this person again. So when you are actively reducing rumination, your OCD is working against you, your OCD is trying to push you into a reaction. And then again, the person went through the same cycle of a lot of rumination and less and less. And then you could see from there, the next week the person kind of was more even and handled it better. So this reiteration of I refused, I pushed forward, I disregarded, I brought the rumination down and then it hit me with something else and they did the same thing and now I'm going to do better. And it's that quest that we are on, the quest to do better compared to the day before. That is the goal of the tracking. That is if you ask yourself, why, why am I tracking? What is the reason for it? It's not to log, it's not to tell me, hey, Ali ate 20 donuts yesterday, 20 donuts today, and intend to eat 20 donuts tomorrow in order to lose weight. Like, it's not. That's logging, right? We're reducing, we're trying to do better. So take every time period, as in the morning, I'm trying to do better, in the afternoon, I'm trying to do better, I'm trying to get the behaviors down that feed the ocd. Download the OCD Help app and start tracking.