OCD Recovery Short - "You Are Controlling Your OCD Thoughts"

Host: Ali Greymond
Date: November 24, 2025

Episode Overview

In this concise yet powerful daily episode, Ali Greymond, author and OCD recovery coach, addresses the crucial concept of personal agency in managing and recovering from OCD. Drawing on her experience both as a coach and a survivor, Ali reframes the listener's relationship with their OCD by emphasizing the significance of their responses to intrusive thoughts and compulsive urges.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Recognition of Control in OCD

• Responsibility Without Blame

  • Ali highlights the often-misunderstood aspect of OCD: individuals contribute to the maintenance and intensification of their symptoms through specific behaviors, such as rumination, avoidance, and reassurance-seeking.

  • Importantly, she distinguishes responsibility from blame, reframing the idea of "control" as empowering rather than punitive.

    "You are already controlling your OCD through your reaction because you've been reacting a lot. You've been making your OCD worse. And it's very important that you understand that accountability. This is not blame."
    – Ali Greymond [00:00]

The Power of Response

• Behavioral Patterns and Recovery

  • Ali enumerates the common compulsive behaviors that sustain OCD, such as:

    • Rumination
    • Performing compulsions ("behaviors")
    • Avoidance
    • Excessive online research
    • Asking for reassurance

  • The episode asserts that just as these actions can worsen symptoms, ceasing them will lead to genuine improvement.

    "If I can make my OCD worse through rumination, through doing behaviors, compulsions, through avoiding online research, asking for reassurance, if I can make my OCD worse through all those behaviors, then not doing the behaviors will make my OCD better."
    – Ali Greymond [00:20]

• Encouragement and Agency

  • Ali emphasizes the listener’s personal capability to enact change:

    "And I hold the power. You hold the power to get yourself out of this."
    – Ali Greymond [00:36]

Actionable Step

• As the episode closes, Ali urges listeners to actively engage with their recovery process, referencing her tracking tool:

  "Download the OCD Help app and start tracking."
  – Ali Greymond [00:39]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Empowering Accountability:

  • "This is you saying, if I can make my OCD worse... then not doing the behaviors will make my OCD better."
    – Ali Greymond [00:16]

• Affirming Personal Power:

  • "You hold the power to get yourself out of this."
    – Ali Greymond [00:36]

Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:00 – 00:16: Introduction to the concept of controlling OCD through reaction, establishing accountability without blame.
• 00:16 – 00:36: Exploration of specific behaviors that worsen OCD and the empowering idea that doing the opposite can aid in recovery.
• 00:36 – End: Direct encouragement and practical action—leveraging personal agency and supportive tools for recovery.

Summary

Ali Greymond’s episode delivers a direct, motivational message: while OCD feels overpowering, individuals influence their experience and path to recovery through their own reactions. By ceasing the behaviors that reinforce the disorder and embracing accountability—without self-blame—listeners can take concrete, hopeful steps toward lasting improvement.