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.

Transcript

A (0:00)

Hi, everyone. I'm Alex Graymond. Today I wanted to do an exposure exercise for OCD recovery. And this is just to show you how to properly do an exposure. So first, let's pick the type of exposure we are going to do. How I want you to pick it is in terms of physical compulsions. I want you to pick some compulsion that you do that is about.

A (0:25)

Say, 7 out of 10 anxiety. So it's not totally through the roof anxiety, where if you don't do it, it's just too much, it's going to be overwhelming, you won't be able to concentrate. But just something that gives you a lot of anxiety when you don't do it or don't do it a certain way, or whatever it is, whatever your compulsion is. So pick that target. In terms of the pure o type of OCD, pick a thought that's about 7 out of 10. Not 10 out of 10, but not like 2 or 3 out of 10 either. So something that's, you know, triggering you, but not to the extreme level. Right. And we're going to work with that. So for. For the pure O. Right, for the pure obsessional, what I want you to do is take this thought and say it. But. Or if it's a. It's kind of hard to do with thoughts. Right. But without knowing what the thought is. But take this thought. Say it in a way that's. Yeah, okay, whatever. This is what it is. So 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.

A (1:37)

You know, and continue to say it over and over again, just like this, sarcastically. And then when OCD will tell you, what if you did really kill somebody? What if it's true? You're not buying into it. So that's how you do it. For the pure O, in terms of the physical compulsions, you have two options here, and this depends on the type of physical compulsion you have. You can either, if you're doing something and you have to do it in a specific way, try to do it in the wrong way, or if OCD is making you do something like check second time, third time, wash hands more than once. If it's making you do something instead of doing it how OCD wants you to do it, do it how a person without OCD would do. So the way you're. Okay, so now that we picked the exposure. Right. How are you going to approach it? So before you start the exposure, you really have to focus that no matter how it comes in 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. I'm not going to be scared by this anymore. I've been scared enough, I've suffered enough, and now I'm done. And taking that approach, you're going to do the exposure, whether the mental exposure, such as the puro one, or not doing a physical compulsion.

A (3:01)

So then after you do the erp so exposure and response prevention. So again, if, if it's a compulsion, you're going to do it in the wrong way or you're not going to do it at all. If it's a physical or if it's a mental thought process, then you're going to think like, yeah, whatever, yep, of course. So you're not running away from the thought. You're not agreeing with it in a way that's like, oh, yeah, it's like actually real, you're saying sarcastically. Yep, sure, of course. Maybe I didn't kill just one person. Maybe I killed everybody, you know, like. Like in that kind of way, really kind of taking it to the next level. Right. So after that, your brain is going to be feeling like it's on fire. It's going to bring you more thoughts. It's going to try to get you to do some sort of a reassurance behavior, whether mental or physical doesn't matter. So what I want you to do is if you would like to do another exposure after that, you're more than welcome to. If you would like to move on, then move on to something, something else, something real life, especially something physical, such as doing something. Right. The more you refocus right after. Right. Not letting these thoughts take hold. So I've done the exposure from a position of power. You've done it. Now I'm done again from a position of power. And 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.