Episode Overview

Podcast: OCD Recovery
Host: Ali Greymond
Episode: Full OCD Recovery: Effective Delay Technique For OCD Recovery
Date: December 24, 2025

In this episode, Ali Greymond, a seasoned OCD coach and creator of The Greymond Method, introduces listeners to a practical “delay technique” for overcoming OCD compulsions and urges. She breaks down why gradually increasing the time between an intrusive thought and a compulsive response is essential for recovery, explaining how it leads to reduced anxiety and weakened compulsive habits across all OCD subtypes.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Understanding the Delay Technique (00:14–01:00)

• Purpose: When faced with an OCD thought and the urge to perform a compulsion (mental or physical), you should deliberately delay acting on it.
• How it Works:
  • “When you get an OCD thought and OCD wants you to figure it out... you're going to delay a certain amount of time. Ideally, I want you to delay a few days, but if that feels too hard... the longer you can delay the better.” (Ali, 00:15)
  • Start with a delay as short as one minute if needed, then gradually increase to five minutes, ten minutes, and longer intervals over time.

2. Applicability Across OCD Subtypes (01:00–01:15)

• Works for:
  • Pure-O (obsessive rumination with mental compulsions)
  • Physical compulsions (checking, cleaning, etc.)
  • Seeking reassurance (e.g., asking others, using internet forums or AI)
• “Especially if you’re doing compulsions... as soon as OCD tells you to do one, you're going to delay by five minutes, by one minute, if you have to... then by 10 minutes, so increasing.” (Ali, 00:39)

3. Gradual Progression: Building Up Delay (01:15–01:50)

• Advise against attempting immediate, heroic delay for extended periods. Instead, build up slowly to avoid overwhelming anxiety.
• “Don't be a hero. This is not all at once, but little by little. Stretch out that time between when you get an OCD thought and when you perform the behavior that OCD wants from you.” (Ali, 02:28)

4. The Anxiety Curve & Habituation (01:50–02:28)

• The Anxiety Arc: Delaying a compulsion will cause anxiety to rise and reach a peak, but if you hold through the discomfort, the urge often diminishes by the end of the set period.
• Result: “By the time that time period comes around... you're going to see that the urge to do the OCD behavior is much less.” (Ali, 02:14)
• Over time, this technique weakens the compulsive pattern and makes it less likely that the behavior will recur.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the value of delay:
  “The longer you are able to delay, the less likelihood that you’re going to do the behavior in the end, the compulsive behavior... but you need to work up to it slowly.”
  — Ali Greymond, 01:40

• On handling anxiety:
  “You feel like your knees are going to buckle if you don’t do what OCD tells you... you sit through it because you’re waiting for the time period, for the right time period to pass.”
  — Ali Greymond, 01:58

• On gradual progress:
  “Don’t be a hero. This is not all at once, but little by little.”
  — Ali Greymond, 02:28

Important Timestamps

• 00:14–01:00: Introduction to the delay technique and its rationale
• 01:00–01:15: Application to different types of compulsions (mental & physical)
• 01:15–01:50: Strategy for gradually increasing delay intervals
• 01:50–02:28: The anxiety curve, habituating, and the benefits of sustained delay

Episode Takeaways

• The delay technique is a universally applicable tool for all OCD subtypes.
• Start with brief delays and gradually increase over time rather than pushing for dramatic changes instantly.
• The key to sustained recovery is learning to “ride out” anxiety until it naturally subsides, weakening the compulsive urge with each success.
• Consistency and patience are vital—progress may be slow, but it leads to long-term change.