Summary4 min read

OCD Recovery Podcast: "🧠 Maybe Maybe Not Technique"

Host: Ali Greymond
Date: February 25, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, Ali Greymond explores the "maybe, maybe not" technique, a popular disregard method often recommended in OCD recovery. She critically examines its effectiveness, especially for individuals in acute anxiety, and provides practical advice on how and when the technique may—and may not—be useful. Drawing specifically from harm OCD scenarios, Ali distinguishes between theoretical acceptance and real-life applicability, emphasizing a flexible approach to rumination reduction.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. When “Maybe, Maybe Not” Doesn’t Work

Extreme Anxiety Situations:
- Ali explains that at the peak of anxiety (a “level 10”), the mind cannot process casual acceptance of intrusive thoughts.
- Quote [00:12]:
  
  “At a level 10, when the person's like, ‘I don't know, I was driving, I think I hit somebody, I don't remember,’ and you tell them you should use the maybe, maybe not technique, their brain is not going to be able to compute that.”
Why It’s Infeasible:
- It feels impossible to accept extreme doubts in a neutral, “whatever” fashion when fully distressed.

2. The Theory Behind “Maybe, Maybe Not”

Purpose:
- Intended as a disregard or detachment technique, signaling, “who cares? Maybe, maybe not; whatever.”
- Quote [00:34]:
  
  “Maybe, maybe not technique is a disregard technique. We're saying, who cares? Maybe, maybe not, who cares? Okay, whatever. It's the same thing, right?”

3. Practical Alternatives at High Anxiety

Partial Rumination Reduction:
- Instead of full acceptance, start by reducing compulsive thinking even for small periods.
- Quote [00:54]:
  
  “If they're in huge distress, they can say, well out of the hour, maybe for five minutes, I can... not think about it. And then the next hour I'm going to try to do ten minutes when I'm not going to think about it.”
Gradual Expansion:
- Building on brief moments of breaking rumination, increase non-compulsive time incrementally.

4. Nuances in Therapist Instructions

Different Understandings:
- Therapists might recommend “maybe, maybe not” sarcastically as a technique, but distressed clients hear it as a demand for impossible acceptance.
- Quote [01:14]:
  
  “The therapist knows that it's not that we're saying this sarcastically, but the person hearing them doesn't hear the same thing that the therapist is saying.”
Interpretation Issues:
- The client feels they must accept the “probable possibility” of their worst fears, which feels intolerable, leading to distress.

5. Realistic Application & Personal Reflection

Specific, Controlled Use:
- The “maybe, maybe not” tool can be useful for some people, but must be applied cautiously, in specific and controlled scenarios, not wholesale for high anxiety moments.
- Memorable Closing:
  - Quote [01:40]:
    
    “So it's a stupid technique. It's potentially, it's a disregard technique. So it can potentially work, but only if you apply it very specifically in a very controlled manner.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the Limitations of the Technique:

“At a level 10, when the person's like, ‘I don't know, I was driving, I think I hit somebody, I don't remember,’ and you tell them you should use the maybe, maybe not technique, their brain is not going to be able to compute that…”
– Ali Greymond [00:12]
On Therapist-Client Miscommunication:

“The therapist knows that it's not that we're saying this sarcastically, but the person hearing them doesn't hear the same thing that the therapist is saying.”
– Ali Greymond [01:14]
On Gradual Progress:

“...out of the hour, maybe for five minutes, I cannot think about it. And then the next hour I'm going to try to do ten minutes when I'm not going to think about it.”
– Ali Greymond [00:54]
On Realistic Use:

“So it's a stupid technique. It's potentially, it's a disregard technique. So it can potentially work, but only if you apply it very specifically in a very controlled manner.”
– Ali Greymond [01:40]

Timestamps for Important Segments

00:00-00:34: Introduction to “maybe, maybe not” and why it might not work at peak anxiety
00:35-01:13: Describing the disregard approach and practical alternatives (partial rumination reduction)
01:14-01:39: Insights on therapist-patient communication breakdowns
01:40-End: Summary on practical, controlled use of the technique

Tone & Takeaway:
Ali’s approach is practical, direct, and empathetic. She acknowledges that while “maybe, maybe not” can be a useful disregard tool in theory, it’s rarely effective during moments of severe distress. Instead, she recommends incremental, manageable steps toward reducing compulsions and normalizing uncertainty—meeting sufferers where they are, not where they “should” be.

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Transcript1 lines

[00:01]
A
Let's talk about the maybe, maybe not technique. I think any person who's dealing with harm, ocd, for example, will not be able to say, hey, maybe, maybe not, I killed somebody, it's okay. They might be able to say that only in one situation is when their anxiety starts to drop to a level of, I would say like a five or a six, maybe that's probably the max. But at a level 10, when the person's like, I don't know, I was driving, I think I hit somebody, I don't remember. And you tell them you should use the maybe, maybe not technique, their brain is not going to be able to compute that because they're like, what do you mean? How do I accept it? So the idea of saying that, well, whatever, you know, maybe, maybe I killed somebody, maybe I didn't, maybe it's laughable. It's. It's not how a person can actually operate in theory. Maybe, maybe not technique is a disregard technique. We're saying, who cares? Maybe, maybe not, who cares? Okay, whatever. Like, it's the same thing, right? What we're trying to say. But the thing is, a person at level 10 cannot do that. What a person, though, can DO at level 10 is slightly reduce their rumination where let's say, if they're in huge distress, they can say, well out of the hour, maybe for five minutes, I can, let's say, do something where I'm not going to think about it. And the next hour I'm going to try to do 10 minutes when I'm not going to think about it. And then the next hour I'm going to do 15 minutes when I'm not going to think about it. That's doable, maybe, maybe not. It's kind of like accepting a possibility of maybe it is. And also here's another thing is if you talk to a therapist and they tell you do the maybe, maybe not technique, the therapist knows that it's not that we're saying this sarcastically, but the person hearing them doesn't hear the same thing that the therapist is saying. The person at level 10, they're like, what do you mean? I need to accept the probable possibility that I may have killed somebody. How can I say maybe, maybe not to that where the therapist is saying it sarcastically? Do you see what I mean? So it's a stupid technique. It's potentially, it's a disregard technique. So it can potentially work, but only if you apply it very specifically in a very controlled manner. Emergency session is available. The link is in the description.