OCD Training - Set Your OCD Recovery Targets - OCD Recovery

Podcast Summary – OCD Recovery with Ali Greymond

Episode: OCD Training - Set Your OCD Recovery Targets
Date: September 4, 2025
Host: Ali Greymond

Episode Overview

In this focused episode, Ali Greymond explores the importance of setting specific, measurable targets for OCD recovery. Drawing from her extensive experience as both an OCD survivor and a recovery coach, Ali challenges listeners to actively track and reduce their OCD behaviors—compulsions, rumination, and avoidance—by a concrete percentage each week. The conversation emphasizes the difference between passively accepting chronic OCD and deliberately striving for measurable improvement.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Understanding Recovery as a Measurable Process

Ali underscores that OCD recovery “works like a mathematical equation” (00:16), where progress is a function of how much a person reduces compulsions and other OCD-driven behaviors.
Insight: “The more you feed it, the more it grows, the less you feed it, the weaker it becomes.” (00:22)

2. Setting Weekly Recovery Targets

Ali shares that with her clients, she aims for about 20–25% reduction in compulsions or rumination each week.
Quote: “With clients, what I strive for is about 20, 25% improvement each week.” (00:39)
She points out that slow progress usually indicates either missing nuances in the process or an absence of clear, actionable goals.

3. The Dangers of a “Hopeless” Mindset

Ali warns against the defeatist attitude often seen in online OCD communities:
Quote: “People online have kind of…this give up attitude where it’s like, well, I just have OCD…It’s just chronic and whatever.” (01:28)

4. Active Commitment to Goals

Listeners are encouraged to treat weekly targets as non-negotiable. Ali uses a vivid metaphor:
Quote: “I will crawl up the wall Exorcist style, but the compulsions are going to go down by 20%...” (01:45)
She stresses that this commitment should also be applied to rumination and avoidance.

5. Tracking and Adjusting Your Effort

Set concrete numbers to track progress: e.g., reducing rumination from 500 to 400 minutes in a week.
Don’t let goal-setting itself turn into a new obsession—keep targets practical and achievable.

6. Universal Recovery Formula

Ali distills OCD recovery into a simple principle:
Quote: “It’s the more you ruminate, do compulsions, avoidances, the more anxiety you’re gonna have, the less, the less anxiety you’re gonna have. That’s how it works in every OCD situation. There’s no exceptions.” (03:32)

7. Hope and Recovery Are Possible

Ali guarantees the potential for full recovery, but emphasizes it requires deliberate action and tracking.
Quote: “Your brain is capable of full recovery. I guarantee you that your brain is capable.” (02:46)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On achieving recovery:
“Little by little each day, you know…this is my goal. I’m not going to go over and don’t make the goal an obsessive thing. Don’t turn it into a meta OCD situation. But hitting those goal posts as you go, you’ll see results.” (03:12)
On the formula for progress:
“From that basic formula, all we need to do is keep stepping down the power up that we’re doing, that’s all. And little by little, you get to zero and you recover.” (04:04)

Important Timestamps

00:16: Introduction to measuring recovery and the OCD “mathematical equation”
00:39: Optimal weekly progress targets (20–25% improvement)
01:28–01:45: Critique of online “give up” attitudes and necessity of strong commitment
02:46: Guarantee of brain’s ability for full recovery
03:12–03:32: How to set and approach goals, avoiding turning them into a new obsession
03:32–04:04: The universal formula for reducing anxiety and achieving recovery

Takeaway

Ali’s practical approach pushes listeners to treat recovery as an active process. By setting and tracking specific reduction goals for compulsions, rumination, and avoidance, and refusing to accept a chronic state, listeners can reclaim control from OCD’s grip. Full recovery is not only possible—it’s a function of persistent, measured effort.

For more on targeted OCD recovery, listen to the full episode or explore Ali Greymond's resources and coaching at youhaveocd.com.

Transcript

A (0:00)

I'm Ali Graymond. I'm an expert in OCD recovery because for the last 19 years I've been helping people fully recover from OCD. If you would like to do personal coaching with me, all the information is on. You have OCD.com you can sign up from there. It's important for you to see the.

B (0:16)

Speed of your own recovery because it's okay. Like, let's say you're, you feel like you're doing recovery work, you feel like you're trying. But realistically, OCD works like a mathematical equation where how much you are feeding it versus how much power you're taking away from it. And the result of that is the level of OCD and the level of anxiety. The more you feed it, the more it grows, the less you feed it, the weaker it becomes. So if you are seeing very slow progress, like with clients, what I strive for is about 20, 25% improvement each week. And if you're seeing very slow progress and nowhere near that, then A, there's probably nuances that you are missing in your recovery and B, you're not focused on even making those goals. There needs to be a very real improvement. I think a lot of the online community kind of contributes to that because people online have kind of like, for the most part have this kind of give up attitude where it's like, well.

A (1:28)

I just have ocd.

B (1:29)

It's just chronic and whatever. And I mean, I've showed you proof of the results that I'm seeing with clients. You can definitely recover, but your mindset needs to be very different. That if I'm doing, let's say, a hundred compulsions I'm going to do this week, I will crawl up the wall exorcist style, but the compulsions are going to go down by 20%, the amount of compulsions that I will do. What I mean by the Exorcist style, what I mean is that I will do what I need to do to get myself there. And same with rumination. If I'm ruminating this many minutes per day, again, very approximately. But if I know that I'm ruminating, let's say, don't know, 500 minutes, then by the end of the week it's going to be 400 minutes. And you need to set those goals and make those goals happen, no matter how difficult it is. Because your life, your recovery, everything about you is kind of hanging in the balance of this recovery work. So it's very important that you take this seriously, that you push forward. I'm telling you right now, I'm telling you as an expert who has been doing Recovery work for 20 years with clients, your brain is capable of full recovery. I guarantee you that your brain is capable. Now whether you're going to push and whether you're going to do the tracking and you're going to do the reduction, I don't know. And if you don't do it, then you'll stay in this chronic state or getting worse or whatever, depending on the situation. But if you set those goals and you push forward and you make it happen, you're going to have results like I see with my clients because I push them. We make sure we get that. So you need to push yourself and get yourself there. Little by little each day, you know, it's, it's, this is my goal. I'm not going to go over and don't make the goal an obsessive thing. Don't turn it into a meta OCD situation. But hitting those goal posts as you go, you'll, you'll see results. I mean it's impossible because again, OCD at its core doesn't matter what you know, thought of the day was, well, how it made you feel, blah, blah, blah, added score. It's the more you ruminate, do compulsions, avoidances, the more anxiety you're gonna have, the less, the less anxiety you're gonna have. That's how it works in every OCD situation. There's no exceptions. That is how it operates. So from that basic formula, all we need to do is keep stepping down the power up that we're doing, that's all. And little by little, you get to zero and you recover.