OCD Recovery with Ali Greymond

Episode: Impact Of Micro Compulsions On OCD Recovery
Date: November 4, 2025
Host: Ali Greymond

Episode Overview

In this episode, Ali Greymond sheds light on the often-overlooked “micro compulsions” and their substantial impact on the OCD recovery process. Drawing on her nearly two decades of experience in OCD coaching and her personal journey, Ali discusses why these minor, almost reflexive behaviors can be particularly insidious and why focusing on eliminating them is crucial for effective and lasting recovery.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

What Are Micro Compulsions?

• Definition:
  Micro compulsions are very minor compulsive behaviors or thoughts, often so subtle that they feel negligible (“even like micro rumination, you know, can I just check... and it feels very small” - 00:18).
• Examples:
  • Micro rumination
  • Brief “just in case” checking
  • Small mental acts that quickly become automatic

The Disproportionate Impact of Micro Compulsions

• Why They Matter:
  • Despite seeming trivial, every micro compulsion reinforces OCD.

    "Every time you do a compulsion, your brain is learning that that's the normal way that you should be doing compulsions. So it's going to keep hitting you harder and harder with it." (00:34)

  • By frequently engaging in these, you're training your brain to expect compulsions as the norm.

The Difference From Major Compulsions

• Degrees of Difficulty:
  • Larger compulsions can be extremely distressing to resist and may require more deliberate effort.
  • Micro compulsions, by contrast, are often “easily not do[ne]”—so there’s less of an emotional barrier to resisting them.

    “But if it's something minuscule that you can easily not do, but you do it every day, and it feeds the disorder, then why in the world are you doing something that feeds the disorder that you're trying to get rid of? You know what I mean?” (01:22)

  • Ali urges listeners to target and eliminate these first because they’re the “easiest thing for you to get rid of” (02:08).

The Role of Accountability

• Counting Compulsions:
  • Many people overlook the cumulative impact of their micro compulsions because they don’t consciously track them.

    “A lot of the times these micro compulsions, they come down to accountability where because you're not counting the number of compulsions, you don't understand that how many you're doing.” (01:42)

• Strategy:
  • Keeping a non-obsessive tally of these behaviors can help bring awareness and facilitate reduction.

    “The counting really helps. Not obsessively counting. We don't want to be obsessive about it, but having an idea of how much I'm actually doing that's feeding the disorder is very important.” (02:38)

Actionable Advice

• Start Small, Start Now:
  • Because larger compulsions may feel overwhelming to stop, micro compulsions are a practical starting point for building recovery momentum.

    “Start here. Start with getting rid of all micro compulsions.” (02:23)

• Remove the “Additional Fuel”:
  • By removing even the smallest acts that feed OCD, you can make significant recovery progress.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Surprising Damage of Micro Compulsions:

  “Micro compulsions are probably like the, the... It's hard for me to find another word. But the stupidest way you can get... be stuck in OCD.” (00:46)

• On Choosing Your Battles in Recovery:

  “The bigger stuff, like I said it might be, it just might be too difficult to not do the compulsion for now, but this little, little BS, you can get rid of that.” (02:13)

• On Being Accountable:

  “Because you're not counting the number of compulsions, you don't understand that how many you're doing. And because you don't understand how many you are doing, you're not actually reducing how many you are doing.” (01:44)

• On Tricking Yourself with “Just One More”

  “It's just almost like a momentary twitch reflex thing where it's like, oh, I just need to solve it. Oh, just real quick. No, real quick. You're doing damage.” (01:57)

Key Timestamps

• 00:18 – Defining micro compulsions and their subtle nature
• 00:34 – How every compulsion reinforces the OCD cycle
• 01:22 – Questioning why we allow micro compulsions to persist
• 01:42 – The need for accountability through counting
• 02:08 – The relative ease of eliminating micro compulsions
• 02:23 – Practical advice: start with removing micro compulsions
• 02:38 – How non-obsessive tracking of compulsions accelerates progress

Summary

Ali Greymond’s episode underscores that “micro compulsions” may be small, but their cumulative effect is significant. By focusing first on identifying and removing these minor, often reflexive behaviors, listeners can break the OCD cycle more effectively, gain confidence, and build momentum for tackling larger compulsions. Awareness and accountability are emphasized as key strategies—Ali reminds listeners that getting rid of these “little BS” behaviors is an actionable and important first step toward lasting recovery.