I remember starting my practicum in graduate school feeling angry. My professors were about to set me loose to see clients for the first time and while I knew theories, techniques, and foundational skills of counseling, I did not know how to cure someone’s depression or anxiety. You know…what I thought I had gone to …
OCD
Uncomfy Feelings Aren’t Dangerous
I’m sure we can all think of a time where we said or did something embarrassing. I’m thinking of a time when I misheard something in a group of about 20 people and started talking about the topic I thought we were discussing, when we were actually talking about something completely different. I was mortified. …
What is Compulsory Prayer?
One of the many unfortunate truths of OCD is that it tends to go after the things we really care about, including our faith and belief systems. We call this scrupulosity OCD. Scrupulosity can show up in many different forms in every faith or belief system (even atheism!). One way it can show up is …
Hooked on Reassurance?
I often have conversations with clients about reassurance seeking. We can look for reassurance both internally or externally. We may reassure ourselves repeatedly that something is or will be okay, reviewing or replaying situations or information to reassure ourselves of our desired outcome. We can look for reassurance externally, such as asking others if they’re …
Evidenced-based Treatments as a Means of Grace
My guess is if you’ve been a Christian for a while, you’ve most likely at some point in your faith journey wondered why God allowed sin and suffering to enter the world. Why didn’t he stop Eve from eating that piece of fruit? Why did he make the rule that Adam and Eve couldn’t eat …