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.