Podcast Summary: Let's Do ERP Exercise For OCD

Podcast: OCD Recovery
Host: Ali Greymond
Date: December 5, 2025

Episode Overview

In this concise and practical episode, Ali Greymond leads listeners through a hands-on ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) exercise for OCD recovery. Drawing on her personal experience and coaching expertise, Ali breaks down how to choose and execute effective ERP exposures—emphasizing a straightforward and empowered attitude. Listeners are encouraged to challenge both physical and mental compulsions, building momentum and resilience throughout their recovery journey.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Choosing the Right Exposure Target

• Moderate Anxiety is Key:

  • Listeners are instructed to select a compulsion or obsessive thought that triggers about 7 out of 10 anxiety—not overwhelming or trivial, but meaningfully challenging.
    • “I want you to pick some compulsion that you do that is about… say, 7 out of 10 anxiety.” (00:25)

• Examples by OCD Type:

  • For Pure O (Obsessive thoughts): Pick a triggering thought (“What if I killed somebody?”)
  • For Physical compulsions: Choose an action or ritual (e.g., repeated washing or checking)

2. Executing Exposure Exercises

• For Pure O (Obsessions):

  • Say the intrusive thought out loud, sarcastically and repeatedly, to diminish its power.
    • “Say, for example, if you are worried that, ‘What if you killed somebody?’—yep, killed somebody. Killed many, many people. Right, for sure. Killed somebody.” (01:07)
    • Reject the urge to seek reassurance or debate the content of the thought.

• For Physical Compulsions:

  • Purposely disrupt the compulsion—do it “the wrong way” or skip the ritual entirely.
  • Model the behavior of someone without OCD (“do it how a person without OCD would do”).

3. Mental Preparation: Stance of Disregard

• Commitment Before Exposure:
  • Adopt a mindset of radical disregard for whatever thoughts or discomfort arise:
    • “No matter what thoughts you get, no matter how scary it will seem, you are going to disregard. So this has to be your baseline that no matter what, I’m going to choose to disregard.” (02:19)
  • This firm stance is essential for effective ERP.

4. Managing Aftermath and Re-Focusing

• Expect Resistance:

  • Exposure will provoke more intrusive thoughts or urges to perform compulsions; anticipate this and don’t seek reassurance.
  • “Your brain is going to be feeling like it’s on fire… it’s going to try to get you to do some sort of a reassurance behavior.” (03:21)

• Momentum & Refocusing:

  • Transition quickly to real-life tasks (not OCD-related) after exposures to further break the cycle.
  • “Now I am choosing to move on to real life stuff, stuff that’s important, which is also a choice, which is also coming from a position of power.” (03:58)

5. Building Recovery Momentum

• Multiple Exposures for Faster Progress:
  • Doing several exposures back-to-back prevents any single experience from dominating your mind and accelerates recovery.
    • “If you do just the one, then that one will really stick out in your mind. But if you do one after another… the mind doesn’t really know which one to grab onto.” (04:26)
  • Encourages listeners not to prolong recovery with hesitation or avoidance:
    • “You’re gonna have to do those exposures anyway, so you might as well just do them.” (05:51)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Say it in a way that’s… yeah, okay, whatever. This is what it is.” (00:49)
• “After you do the ERP… your brain is going to bring you more thoughts. It’s going to try to get you to do some sort of a reassurance behavior…” (03:21)
• “Try to do this exercise as many… you know, I always say exposures, it’s like, you know, your mind needs to get certain number of them in order to recover.” (05:08)
• “We can do it the very long way by doing very few exposures every single day, or we can do it the fast way of just saying, you know what, bring it on…” (05:24)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Choosing Exposure Target: 00:25
• Pure O Exposure Example: 01:07
• Approach & Stance: 02:19
• Handling Aftermath: 03:21
• Refocusing on Real Life: 03:58
• Value of Multiple Exposures: 04:26
• Commit to Momentum: 05:08

Summary & Action Steps

• Pick a moderately challenging compulsion or thought (7/10 anxiety).
• For thoughts: Rehearse them out loud, sarcastically, refusing reassurance.
• For compulsions: Purposely break the ritual or do it “the wrong way.”
• Adopt a baseline attitude of disregard for intrusive thoughts and discomfort.
• Expect anxiety and push forward without engaging in reassurance.
• Refocus quickly on meaningful real-life activities after exposures.
• Do multiple exposures in a row to build momentum and accelerate recovery.

Listeners are left motivated to approach ERP from a place of strength and persistence, knowing that repeated exposures and firm disregard for OCD’s demands are fundamental components of recovery.