Summary3 min read

OCD Training - What Increases OCD Thoughts

Podcast: OCD Recovery
Host: Ali Greymond
Date: September 21, 2025

Episode Overview

In this focused episode, Ali Greymond discusses the mechanisms that lead to an increase in intrusive OCD thoughts and shares actionable steps for dealing with them effectively. Drawing from her extensive coaching experience and recovery journey, Ali emphasizes how reactions to unwanted thoughts can inadvertently make them stronger. Her message is practical: the key to reducing OCD thoughts is learning how to react with complete indifference, allowing thoughts to pass without intervention or judgment.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Nature of OCD Thoughts

Thousands of Thoughts Per Day:
Ali begins by normalizing the experience of intrusive thoughts, noting that our brains generate an estimated 70,000 thoughts daily.
- “Your brain is sending 70,000 thoughts a day. They're just whizzing by you like a highway.” (00:22)
Picking Out Certain Thoughts:
Highlighting the tendency to focus on disturbing or unwanted thoughts, Ali explains how this “magnifying” makes them seem more important than they are.
- “If you start picking out these specific types of thoughts and saying, oh my God, these are so bad, what happens is your brain actually sends you more of them because you're showing importance...” (00:39)

Why Trying to ‘Fix’ or Rationalize Makes It Worse

Avoid Sterilizing or Trying to ‘Fix’ Thoughts:
Ali cautions against the urge to neutralize, rationalize, or “sterilize” intrusive thoughts, explaining that these compulsive efforts actually teach the brain that such thoughts are important and in need of attention.
- “Don’t start fixing them, rationalizing them, figuring them out, sorting through them. Just leave them as is.” (00:17)
The Brain’s Attention Mechanism:
She describes the brain’s mechanism of reinforcing attention: the more you react, the more frequently the thought appears.
- “The more you react, the more frequently you’re going to get it. That’s the brain’s mechanism.” (01:10)

The Solution: Radical Indifference

Complete Neutrality:
Ali’s central message is to respond with absolute indifference—not trying to accept, analyze, or wish thoughts away.
- “We’re acting as if the thought doesn’t exist, as if it never came into your mind. Complete neutrality in all aspects...” (01:36)
No Mental Manipulation:
She warns against switching between positive and negative scenarios or attempting to ‘manipulate’ what the thought means.
Meta-OCD Thoughts:
Even meta-level worries (e.g., “When will this go away?” or “What does this mean about my recovery?”) should get the same neutral response.
- “Complete neutrality across the board. That’s how you get rid of these thoughts.” (02:13)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“Just leave them as is... always remind yourself that your brain is sending 70,000 thoughts a day.” (00:17)
“If you start picking out these specific types of thoughts and saying, oh my God... your brain actually sends you more of them because you’re showing importance.” (00:39)
“The more you react, the more frequently you’re going to get it.” (01:10)
“We’re acting as if the thought doesn’t exist, as if it never came into your mind. Complete neutrality in all aspects...” (01:36)
“Complete neutrality across the board. That’s how you get rid of these thoughts.” (02:13)

Timestamps for Key Segments

00:00-00:14 — Introduction: Distinguishing intrusive thoughts and initial guidance
00:14-01:10 — The danger of reacting or ‘sterilizing’ OCD thoughts
01:10-02:13 — The mechanism of thought reinforcement and the crucial role of indifference
02:13-02:32 — Summary and actionable advice: practice neutrality at all levels

Summary

Ali Greymond’s message is both accessible and empowering: intrusive OCD thoughts are common, but the chief driver of their persistence is how much importance we assign them. By refusing to engage or react—neither fighting nor fixing—the brain learns to deprioritize these thoughts, aiding recovery. Throughout the episode, Ali offers clarity, compassion, and practical steps rooted in real recovery experience.

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Transcript6 lines

[00:00]
A
Ali.
[00:00]
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I'm Ali Graymond. I'm an expert in OCD recovery because for the last 19 years I've been.
[00:05]
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Helping people fully recover from OCD.
[00:08]
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If you would like to do personal coaching with me, all the information is on younhubocd.com you can sign up from there.
[00:14]
A
Let's talk about not sterilizing OCD thoughts. So whenever you get thoughts that you may not like, that maybe go against who you are, that you that scare you, that worry you, let them be there. Don't start fixing them, rationalizing them, figuring them out, sorting through them. Just leave them as is. Always remind yourself that your brain is sending 70,000 thoughts a day. They're just whizzing by you like a highway. All kinds of thoughts are going by. If you start picking out these specific types of thoughts and saying, oh my God, these are so bad, what happens is your brain actually sends you more of them because you're showing importance, so you're trying to get rid of them. But actually what happens is the opposite, that your brain sends you more. So to get rid of these thoughts, you need to show indifference because the brain will hold on to things that are important to you. It doesn't understand why it's important to you, but it just gives you more of that same stuff. So if you actively start reacting to a type of a thought, that's the thought that you're going to get more and more. And the more you react, the more frequently you're going to get it. That's the brain's mechanism. So you need to give it zero energy. Like you see that thought, however it came in, brutal, scary content, whatever, doesn't matter. Okay, sure, whatever. We're not accepting worst case scenarios, we're not rationalizing good scenarios, we're not switching, we're not manipulating the thought in absolutely any way. We're acting as if the thought doesn't exist, as if it never came into your mind. Complete neutrality in all aspects, including the meta OCD aspect of when is this thought going to go away? Why? What does this mean about my recovery? That the start is there. So complete neutrality across the board. That's how you get rid of these thoughts.
[02:33]
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Thank you for listening. If you have not subscribed, please subscribe. If you would like to do private coaching with me, please sign up through you have oct.com I'll see you tomorrow.