Podcast
The OCD Stories
Hosted by Stuart Ralph · EN
Welcome to The OCD Stories, hosted by Stuart Ralph. The podcast has been heard over 8million times globally. Check out your first episode from our existing hundreds of episodes featuring experts, and people experiencing symptoms just like you today. If you do, you may just feel understood, heard and possibly help you identify your next step in your own personal journey to healing.
Disclaimer - this podcast is not a replacement for therapy. Please seek treatment from a licensed mental health professional.
61episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Dr Peter Aston: Treating OCD in professional athletes (#546)
4d ago00:55:26Summary readyIn episode 546 I chat with Dr Peter Aston. Dr. Pete Aston is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he specialises in the treatment of OCD, health anxiety, and related conditions using exposure and response prevention (ERP). He is also the co-founder of California Psychology Center, a Bay Area group practice focused on OCD and anxiety disorders. In addition, Pete serves as the team psychologist for the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League, where he works with professional athletes on performance, resilience, and mental health. We discuss working with the San Jose sharks NHL team, why he works with OCD, anxiety and OCD in athletes, prevalence of OCD in athletes, performance anxiety, exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), how OCD can affect athletes, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/peter-546 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter
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Duke Al shares his OCD poems (#545)
2w ago00:57:09Summary readyIn episode 545 I chat with Duke Al. Duke is a spoken word artist and OCD advocate. In this episode Duke reads some of his poems about OCD and explains the meanings behind them, including a new one partially inspired by a bit of my own story, he talks the power of poetry, and how he used poetry as a self-therapy, and much more. Hope it helps. Poems read: Poetry and rhyme A Letter to myself about letters Dear Chris I wish Little Duke Numbers, prayers, checks A couple brand new poems currently untitled Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/duke-545 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter
Summary
Story: Nicole Sophia (Suicidal, Sexual Orientation, and Relationship themes of OCD, self-compassion and her music) (#544)
3w ago00:42:10Summary readyIn episode 544 I chat with Nicole Sophia who has kindly agreed to share her OCD story with us. We discuss suicidal themed OCD, getting diagnosed young, meeting Dan Siegel, sexual orientation themed OCD, relationship themed OCD, her music, mental compulsions, feeling her feelings, self-compassion, making friends with her OCD, expressing through being a singer song writer, using humour, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/nicole-sophia-544 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter
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Jonny Say: Self-compassion in OCD recovery (#543)
4w ago00:43:19Summary readyIn episode 543 I chat with Jonny Say. Jonny is a UK based therapist and co-director at The Integrative Centre for OCD Therapy. We discuss self-compassion, integrating self-compassion into exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), some benefits of self-compassion, the inner critical voice, shame, real event themed OCD, Jonny guides us through an exercise in self-compassion to the past, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/jonny-543 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Alex and Jonny's CFT for OCD (Integrating Compassion Focused Therapy for OCD) training for therapists: https://www.icocdtraining.co.uk/ Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter
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Blakely Hunze-Austin: OCD and Sex (#542)
Jun 1400:40:09Summary readyIn episode 542 I chat with Blakely Hunze-Austin. Blakely is a licensed professional counselor in the states of Colorado and Tennessee. She obtained her master's degree in clinical mental health counseling with a concentration in addictions. She's a nationally certified counselor who specializes in sex therapy, eating disorders, trauma, and OCD. She enjoys working with LGBTQIA, kink, and poly/ENM communities. She is completing hours to become a certified sex therapist and is trained in psychedelic-assisted therapy. We discuss her therapy story, OCD and sex, anxiety around sex and intimacy, redefining the meaning of sex, vaginismus, some particular OCD worries around sex, sensate focus sex therapy, disgust around sex, neurodiversity and sex, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/blakely-542 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter
Summary
Story: Brad Stulberg (Self-harm-themed OCD, writing, and his book The Way of Excellence) (#541)
Jun 701:04:41Summary readyIn episode 541 I chat with Brad Stulberg who has kindly agreed to share his OCD story with us. Brad is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes about mastery, meaning, and excellence. We discuss his OCD story, beginnings of his OCD, health obsessions, self-harm themed OCD, finding a therapist for his OCD, exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), writing about his OCD, OCD support groups, values, mindfulness, his new book The Way of Excellence, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/brad-541 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter
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Alex Habens: A Therapist's journey with OCD and Compassion Focused Therapy (#540)
May 3100:46:20Summary readyIn episode 540 I interview Alex Habens. Alex is a BABCP Accredited CBT Therapist, Clinical Supervisor and OCD Specialist. He also works with myself at The Integrative Centre for OCD Therapy. We discuss why he became a therapist and his own OCD experiences, what is compassion focused therapy (CFT), compassion more generally, integrating CFT into OCD treatment, shame, connecting with compassion, fears blocks and resistances to compassion, compassion during exposures, his CFT therapy group, and his CFT therapist training he is running, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/alex-540 His CFT for OCD (Integrating Compassion Focused Therapy for OCD) training for therapists: https://www.icocdtraining.co.uk/ The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter
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Katie d'Ath: OCD therapeutic communities and groups (#539)
May 2400:47:30Summary readyIn episode 539 I interview Katie d'Ath. Katie is a cognitive behavioural therapist with a special interest in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and anxiety disorders. She is also the co-author of "Managing OCD with CBT for Dummies" and she has a popular YouTube channel where she shares OCD videos. In this episode we discuss running OCD therapy groups, managing an online OCD community platform, benefits of community to people with OCD, what Katie's learned from her OCD community, learning from groups that the content of OCD isn't the problem, consistency in the skills and therapy, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/katie-539 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter
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Dr Ronald Nicholson: Sensory OCD (Somatic/Sensorimotor OCD) (#538)
May 1700:38:00Summary readyIn episode 538 I chat with Dr Ronald Nicholson. Ron is a clinical psychologist. We discuss why he doesn't use somatic and sensorimotor OCD labels interchangeably, why he likes the label of sensory OCD, core fear vs the content, the idea of taking the B grade, the obsessions and compulsions around this theme, using exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP) on this theme, exposure scripting, and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/ron-538 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter
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Story: Shannon (existential themed OCD and postpartum OCD) (#537)
May 1000:36:38Summary readyIn episode 537 I chat with Shannon who has kindly agreed to share her OCD story with us. We discuss her earliest OCD memory, various themes of OCD, existential themed OCD, worrying everyone is an 'non-playable character (NPC)', finding out it was OCD, starting therapy for OCD, doing therapy homework, postpartum OCD, support groups, non-engagement responses, shame and much more. Hope it helps. Show notes: https://theocdstories.com/episode/shannon-537 The podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, convenient therapy available in the US and outside the US. To find out more about NOCD, their therapy plans and if they currently take your insurance head over to https://go.treatmyocd.com/theocdstories Join many other listeners getting our weekly emails. Never miss a podcast episode or update: https://theocdstories.com/newsletter
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