Podcast Summary: OCD Recovery with Ali Greymond

Episode: Acceptance Of Feelings And Sensations During OCD

Date: November 18, 2025
Host: Ali Greymond

Overview

In this episode, Ali Greymond delves into the crucial topic of accepting feelings and sensations that arise as part of OCD. Drawing from her personal journey and coaching experience, Ali explains how those with OCD often experience distressing emotions and sensations—especially with subtypes like harm OCD, sexual OCD, and sensory-motor OCD. She offers practical guidance on how to approach these intense internal experiences, highlighting that true acceptance (rather than resistance or correction) is key to recovery.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Nature of OCD-Driven Feelings

• People with OCD often experience powerful, distressing feelings that feel "real":
  • “When you have ocd...you have a lot of feelings that go along with it. And a lot of the times these feelings can be very distressing.” (00:08)
• Common subtypes include harm OCD, sexual OCD, religious OCD, sensory-motor OCD, etc.

2. Understanding and Accepting the Feelings

• Ali uses the metaphor of a “next door neighbor talking”—the feelings exist, but aren't truly you:
  • “...just like I always talk about the next door neighbor talking...let them say whatever they want. They're over there, I'm over here. Same goes with the feelings.” (00:25)
• The key is to accept the feelings as automatic responses from the brain, not as reflections of one's character or desires.
• Viewing OCD sensations as "background noise" or an "overheard movie" can help detach from their emotional charge:
  • “It's just like a movie, like a story that you're overhearing or in this case, you're over feeling. But they are not you. They don't represent who you are.” (00:47)

3. The Brain’s Mechanism and OCD

• Ali explains that the brain responds with thoughts, feelings, or sensations based on fear, not logic:
  • “Your brain thinks that you are scared of this...It just understands it as ones and zeros.” (01:03)
• If you're afraid of something, the brain delivers more of it—whether that's a thought, image, or feeling.
  • “You're afraid of a red balloon, I'll send you images of a red balloon. You're afraid of having feelings. I'm going to send you feelings.” (01:17)

4. Avoiding Engagement and Correction

• Do not try to argue with or analyze the feelings—this keeps the OCD cycle going:
  • “Don't engage in trying to correct it, because when you try to correct it...that's what sends you deeper into ocd. Instead, just leave it. Let it be however it wants to be right now.” (01:57)
• Over time, refusing to react decreases the power of these feelings.

5. Resisting the "Checking" Habit

• Ali warns against the common compulsion to constantly check whether the feelings are gone:
  • “Don't look back into this...or are the feelings gone yet? Am I still feeling this way? Let me check.” (02:17)
• This "are we there yet?" mentality keeps people stuck. Progress comes by not monitoring symptoms:
  • “We've all done this. This is not productive. Don't do. Right.” (02:30)

6. Acceptance as a Core Recovery Tool

• Acceptance doesn't mean agreeing with the intrusive thoughts—it means accepting the existence of automatic symptoms:
  • “You're not accepting the premise that OCD tells you you're a bad person. You're not accepting that at all. You're accepting the autopilot as being autopilot.” (02:45)
• Accept symptoms as temporary, and commit to non-engagement. Recovery is a process:
  • “Because you're not engaging it, you will see that the feelings will slowly start to lose power.” (02:05)
• Time and patience are crucial (“recovery from OCD is about six months when you're focused, when you're on track”). (03:23)

7. Realistic Recovery Timeline

• Immediate relief is unlikely—change is gradual:
  • “It's going to be, I would say probably a few weeks until you start to feel slightly better and then more and more and more.” (03:14)
• Cheering patience: “The brain can only heal at the speed that it can heal...It can't go any faster.” (03:27)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On detachment:
  • “Let it feel however it feels...However it twists the feelings, let it. Do it. And don't engage in trying to correct it.” (01:41)
• On the futility of checking:
  • “Let me get back into it and start to feel worse again because I'm going to start checking, right? We've all done this. This is not productive. Don't do.” (02:25)
• On patience and progress:
  • “It took you a while to get here. It's going to take a little bit of time to come out of it.” (03:11)
• On the mechanism of acceptance:
  • “Accepting the thoughts as currently being in the mind or the feelings currently being in your body, because they are. But you're accepting them as a temporary symptom of OCD that you can control by refusing reaction over time.” (02:53)

Important Timestamps

• 00:01 — Introduction to distressing OCD feelings and Ali’s acceptance approach
• 00:25 — Next door neighbor analogy for thoughts and feelings
• 01:03 — Brain’s logic and the "ones and zeros" metaphor
• 01:41 — Advice: Accept feelings, don’t try to correct
• 02:17 — Warning about checking if feelings are gone
• 02:45 — Clarifying the difference between accepting symptoms vs. accepting OCD’s messages
• 03:11 — Recovery is gradual, not instant
• 03:23 — Recovery timeframe and the speed of brain healing

Summary

Ali Greymond’s message in this episode is clear: acceptance of feelings and sensations is central to OCD recovery. By detaching from intrusive feelings, refusing to correct or analyze them, and having patience with the gradual process of change, individuals can reclaim their peace and move toward lasting recovery.

Note: For more resources, Ali invites listeners to her website for 1-on-1 coaching (content after 03:40 is not covered in detail as per guidelines).