Summary3 min read

Podcast Summary: 🧠 How To Stop Engaging In Checking Behaviors In OCD

Podcast: OCD Recovery
Host: Ali Greymond, OCD Specialist & Author
Date: May 15, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode centers on practical strategies to gradually reduce and ultimately stop checking behaviors, a core compulsion in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Host Ali Greymond draws from her extensive clinical experience and personal recovery journey to deliver actionable advice. The main message: recovery from OCD hinges on systematically limiting compulsive behaviors, not on sporadic exposure exercises alone. Ali urges listeners to treat recovery as a sustained lifestyle change, offering tangible analogies and clear steps for real progress.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Gradual Reduction in Checking Behaviors

Start by cutting back:
Ali suggests not to quit checking behaviors "cold turkey," but to "habituate to getting them down just a little bit" at a time (00:00).
- For example, if you regularly check "the door, the stove, everything… try to reduce the amount... to only the bare minimum" (00:08).
Track and limit compulsions:
- Set clear, trackable boundaries. “If you, let's say, check in with ChatGPT for everything you do, try to put a limit on, okay, I’m gonna check in only this amount of times per day” (00:20).
- Applies equally to reassurance-seeking—“…like checking with the person. Again, limited to a certain amount of time” (00:27).

Accountability & Setting Boundaries

Maintain accountability by tracking the amount of time spent on compulsive behaviors:
- "With ChatGPT, you can see... how much time you spend on the app... Start cutting down that time. Set limits for yourself in the day" (00:34).

Compulsions, Avoidances, and Anxiety

Compulsions like checking and avoidances are directly linked to anxiety and the overall intensity of OCD:
- "These behaviors are what feeds the disorder... When you are on these apps, you're ruminating your compulsions and your avoidances" (00:44).
- "Avoidances equals your level of anxiety at your level of OCD" (00:52).

All-Day Recovery vs. One-off Exposure

Real recovery is built through all-day commitment to resisting compulsions, not just isolated exposures:
- "...it's not one off exposure a day... It's all day long. You're saying no to behaviors that feed OCD. That's how real recovery is made" (01:11).
- “Some people... are doing one hour there, 15 minute exposure. Which one? It’s treated like weight loss. If you’re focused on eating right all day long versus you didn’t go to a donut shop once a week, who’s gonna lose weight?” (01:25).

The Weight Loss Analogy

Ali likens OCD recovery to a healthy lifestyle, not a crash diet:
- "Try to treat it like that"—consistent, day-long commitment trumps sporadic effort (01:37).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On gradual progress:

“Nobody tells you to go cold turkey and stop everything all at once. But you need to start cutting it down in a way that's trackable and accountable.”
– Ali Greymond [00:26]
On what real progress looks like:

“It’s not one off exposure a day… It’s all day long. You’re saying no to behaviors that feed OCD. That’s how real recovery is made.”
– Ali Greymond [01:11]
On the weight loss analogy:

“If you’re focused on eating right all day long versus you didn’t go to a donut shop once a week, who’s gonna lose weight?”
– Ali Greymond [01:30]

Segment Timestamps (for Key Tips & Insights)

00:00 – The importance of reducing checking behaviors gradually
00:20 – Setting measurable limits on compulsive behaviors
00:34 – Using technology to track app usage as a behavioral measurement
00:44 – Linking compulsions, avoidances, and anxiety
01:11 – Why all-day sustained effort matters for recovery
01:25 – Weight loss analogy for understanding recovery consistency

Tone and Takeaways

Ali delivers her insights in a direct, encouraging, and highly practical tone, emphasizing that comprehensive, sustained effort is both necessary and effective for OCD recovery. The concepts are approachable, blending expert advice with real-world analogies, aiming to empower listeners to take daily, trackable steps toward long-term change.

Loading summary

Transcript2 lines

[00:01]
A
If you are engaging in checking behaviors in ocd, try to little by little habituate to getting them down just a little bit. So, for example, if you are before going to bed, you check the door, the stove, everything, right? Try to reduce the amount of things that you're checking to only the bare minimum. If you, let's say check in with Chat GBT for everything you do, try to put a limit on, okay, I'm gonna check in only this amount of times per day, right? If you ask for reassurance, like checking with the person. Right. Again, limited to a certain amount of time. Nobody tells you to go call turkey and stop everything all at once. But you need to start cutting it down in a way that's trackable and accountable. Where you say, okay, this is going to be my new normal that usually I spend even with like, for example, with Chat GPT, you can see on your phone how much time you spend on it or Reddit or whatever, how much time you spend on the app. Start cutting down that time. Set limits for yourself in the day, because these behaviors is what feeds the disorder. So again, your rumination. When you are on these apps, you're ruminating your compulsions and your avoidances. So straight up checking is obviously a compulsion and avoidances equals your level of anxiety at your level of ocd. Our goal is to bring your anxiety and your OCD down, which means we absolutely have to bring these behaviors down. And little by little, by setting limits in place, by setting boundaries in place for yourself and then following through with those boundaries and kind of making them tighter and tighter as you go, that's how you build recovery. It's not one off exposure a day. Oh, I did an exposure. I went to therapy. The great no, it's all day long. You're saying no to behaviors that feed ocd. That's how real recovery is made. That's why my clients are seeing progress. And some people online are like, oh, you can never recover from OCD because they're doing one off exposure exposures. My clients are doing recovery work all day. Some people are doing one hour there, 15 minute exposure. Which one? It's treated like weight loss. If you're focused on eating right all day long versus you didn't go to a donut shop once a week, who's gonna lose weight? You know what I mean? Like, try to treat it like that.
[02:38]
B
I'm Ali Graymond. I'm an expert in OCD recovery because I've been working with clients for the last 20 years and I can tell you anybody can fully recover. If you need help, the link is below.