🧠 Confession OCD Compulsion - OCD Recovery

Summary4 min read

OCD Recovery Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode Title: 🧠 Confession OCD Compulsion
Host: Ali Greymond, OCD Specialist & Author
Date: June 2, 2026

Brief Overview

This episode focuses on “confessing compulsion” within OCD, a common mental ritual where individuals feel repeatedly compelled to confess intrusive thoughts or actions to others to relieve anxiety and guilt. Ali Greymond discusses practical strategies to break this cycle, emphasizing delay and reframing, and shares insights from her two decades of clinical experience.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Urge to Confess

Description: Ali highlights how people with OCD feel an intense urge to confess things they feel are “bad,” dishonest, or troubling.
Insight: The urge to confess is recognized as part of the OCD cycle—once the confession relieves anxiety, another intrusive thought or situation soon triggers the next compulsion.
Timestamp: [00:00]

“You feel the need to confess. You feel like you're a bad person. You feel like you're not being honest with somebody and you feel the need to confess.” – Ali Greymond [00:04]

2. Delaying the Compulsion

Description: Ali suggests delaying the act of confessing, even by a few days, as a powerful step.
Insight: The emotional urge often feels overwhelming in the moment but diminishes over time, making it possible to break the cycle.
Technique: Delaying provides space to realize that the compulsion is OCD-driven rather than rooted in reality.

“Delay for a few days. I know it feels like you can't, but in a few days, you might not feel as strong about the start, and you might be able to actually even push further or just choose not to do it.” – Ali Greymond [00:13]

3. Recognizing the Pattern

Description: Ali invites listeners to reflect on the repetitive nature of their compulsions, noting that after each confession, relief is temporary and new worries soon arise.
Insight: Recognizing this cyclical pattern helps reframe the compulsion as a symptom, not a true moral imperative.

“How many times have you confessed? It's always that, right? Where thought comes in or situation or whatever, and you feel the need to confess, then it goes away because you did the compulsion, another one comes in. So see it as a series of OCD behaviors.” – Ali Greymond [00:25]

4. Perspective-Taking Exercise

Description: Ali encourages listeners to compare their behavior to how a non-OCD friend would act in the same situation.
Insight: This cognitive distancing tool reveals how the OCD alters perception and urges listeners to resist behaviors that wouldn't occur to others.

“Think of a friend of yours. If they were in this situation, how would they act? Would they confess all the things that you've confessed so far? And would they confess this situation?” – Ali Greymond [00:42]

5. Choosing Not to Confess

Description: Even if resisting the compulsion does not feel right emotionally at first, Ali urges listeners to practice abstaining, guided by logic and understanding of the disorder instead of intense feelings.
Advice: Recovery involves making conscious choices that go against OCD demands, even if the emotional discomfort is high.

“Even if it doesn't make sense to you on an emotional level right now, choose not to do the behavior.” – Ali Greymond [00:52]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“You're experiencing an OCD disorder. A lot of the times when we start to do these behaviors, we forget that this is a disorder, that this is not something a person who didn't have OCD would do.” – Ali Greymond [00:34]
“I'm an expert in OCD recovery because I've been working with clients for the last 20, 20 years, and I can tell you anybody can fully recover.” – Ali Greymond [01:00]

Timestamps for Important Segments

00:00 – Introduction to confessing compulsion and how it feels
00:13 – The power of delaying the compulsion
00:25 – Recognizing the OCD pattern in compulsive confessing
00:42 – Perspective-taking: comparing OCD behavior to a non-OCD friend
00:52 – Guidance to abstain from the compulsion despite discomfort
01:00 – Ali mentions her experience and reassures recovery is possible

Takeaways

Delay and awareness are key first steps to breaking the confession compulsion.
OCD distorts reality; relying on logic and comparisons to non-OCD behavior can help correct these distortions.
Everyone is capable of full recovery with effort and the right strategies.

Ali’s tone is matter-of-fact, encouraging, and grounded in her clinical and personal expertise. She blends empathy with practical, no-nonsense advice for listeners struggling with confession-related compulsions.

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[00:01]
A
If you have a confessing compulsion that you are constantly doing, try to delay it so you feel the need to confess. You feel like you're a bad person. You feel like you're not being honest with somebody and you feel the need to confess. Delay for a few days. I know it feels like you can't, but in a few days, you might not feel as strong about the start, and you might be able to actually even push further or just choose not to do it. How many times have you confessed? It's always that, right? Where thought comes in or situation or whatever, and you feel the need to confess, then it goes away because you did the compulsion, another one comes in. So see it as series of OCD behaviors. You're experiencing an OCD disorder. A lot of the times when we start to do these behaviors, we forget that this is a disorder, that this is not something a person who didn't have OCD would do. Think of a friend of yours. If they were in this situation, how would they act? Would they confess all the things that you've confessed so far? And would they confess this situation? And if they wouldn't, even if it doesn't make sense to you on an emotional level right now, choose not to do the behavior. I'm Ali Graymond. I'm an expert in OCD recovery because I've been working with clients for the last 20, 20 years, and I can tell you anybody can fully recover. If you need help, the link is below.