OCD Recovery Podcast: "You Are Already In An OCD Exposure"

Host: Ali Greymond
Date: November 24, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, host and OCD recovery coach Ali Greymond delivers an important reminder: if you have OCD, you are almost always "already in exposure" to your triggers. Rather than seeking out extra, artificial exposures, she encourages listeners to focus on how they're responding to the constant triggers present in daily life. The core message is about recognizing the exposures already happening and applying effective response prevention, instead of slipping into rumination or compulsive behaviors that reinforce OCD.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Recognizing Constant Exposure

• Ali opens by noting that people with OCD are "already in exposure" whenever they're experiencing unwanted thoughts, feelings, images, or sensations ([00:00]).
  • Quote: "You are already in exposure. If you are experiencing ocd, thoughts, feelings, images, sensations, that's an exposure, that's a trigger." — Ali Greymond ([00:10])
• The continual presence of these triggers means additional, deliberate exposures may not be necessary for many.

The Role of Response Prevention

• The critical task is not just facing the triggers, but how you respond—that’s where Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) comes in.
  • Quote: "Now you can either do response prevention, meaning erp, exposure and response prevention, or we can do exposure and response a lot. If you do response a lot, it feeds ocd." — Ali ([00:25])

Breaking Down the OCD Cycle

• Ali breaks OCD down into a simple equation:
  • Rumination + Compulsions + Avoidances = Your current level of anxiety and your current level of OCD
  • Quote: "The basic model of OCD is rumination plus compulsions plus avoidances equals your current level of anxiety and your current level of ocd." — Ali ([00:30])

What Should You Do in Each Exposure?

• Identify when you’re being triggered (which likely occurs "all day long") and actively choose response prevention.
  • Don’t allow yourself to ruminate.
  • Avoid checking, Googling, asking for reassurance, or seeking to "figure it out."
  • Instead, acknowledge the thought and make a "brave choice" to let it be.
    • Quote: "I see the thought, okay, it's coming in, it's bothering me. But I am going to make a brave choice not to figure it out this time. Not to research, not to Google, not to ask somebody. Just to let it be there and choose to view it as ocd." — Ali ([00:45])

Consistency is Key

• The choice to prevent compulsive responses needs to be repeated “continuously throughout the day.”
  • Quote: "And you need to be doing this continuously throughout the day." — Ali ([01:04])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Chances are you're already in exposure. And do you need to do additional exposures? How about you start with the ones you are already in all the time?" — Ali ([00:04])
• "You are already in exposure. If you are experiencing ocd, thoughts, feelings, images, sensations, that's an exposure, that's a trigger." — Ali ([00:10])
• "The basic model of OCD is rumination plus compulsions plus avoidances equals your current level of anxiety and your current level of ocd." — Ali ([00:30])
• "The more you ruminate, the more you show your brain that this is important, the stronger your OCD is going to become. So you need to make the choice." — Ali ([00:38])
• "I am going to make a brave choice not to figure it out this time... just to let it be there and choose to view it as ocd." — Ali ([00:45])

Important Segments & Timestamps

• 00:00–00:10 — Introduction: "You are already in exposure"
• 00:10–00:30 — What counts as exposure and why ERP matters
• 00:30–00:38 — The OCD equation: how rumination, compulsion, and avoidance feed symptoms
• 00:38–00:54 — The importance of making conscious choices in response to triggers
• 00:54–01:04 — Encouragement to apply response prevention constantly

Tone and Style

Ali uses a direct, encouraging, and reassuring tone, repeatedly reminding listeners of their capability to make brave choices throughout each day. Her language is straightforward, compassionate, and action-oriented, making her core message easy to internalize and apply.

Summary Takeaway

Rather than focusing on adding artificial exposures, recognize that with OCD, you are "already in exposure" nearly all the time. The power lies in making consistent, conscious choices to do response prevention (not to ruminate, research, or seek reassurance) each time a trigger appears—throughout your entire day.