I just started my therapy journey less than a month ago. Therefore, the best way I can help the community, for now, is by showing you some valuable tips for finding the right therapist. I am pleased with the work of my therapist, and those tips helped me find him.
• Start by asking your friends and family if they have any recommendations.
• Look for therapists who specialize in OCD treatment.
• Check the therapist’s website or online directory profile to see if they have experience treating OCD.
• Call the therapist’s office and ask about their approach to treatment, including how much emphasis they place on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure and response prevention (ERP).
• Schedule a meeting with the therapist to get a feel for whether you would be comfortable working with them.
This list is an excellent piece of advice, Joon. Thank you for that. Finding the right therapist is one of the first and most essential steps for successful recovery. I wish you the best of luck with it, and keep us updated on your journey.
Thank you, mate, for the effort to share this. I was lucky to be advised a good therapist by a close friend, but I understand this is not the case with everyone.
Great advice, @Joon. It is imperative to feel that this is the right person you want to help you heal. Thus, I would recommend booking a trial consultation.
Fantastic tips, especially the last one. It’s really important to feel that you can trust your therapist and you can tell for sure only after you meet them.
The therapist plays a crucial role in your overall recovery, so I agree with you. Finding the right one might be difficult at first as many “specialists” become therapists after a few modules of training. I recommend relying on someone with years of experience and proven treatment methods.
I want to mention that those tips are handy for me because I’m just starting with my OCD treatment. I chose my therapist based on a gut feeling, but I will try to reevaluate whether this is really the right choice for me.
Some people have strong gut feelings indeed. Nevertheless, I am glad that you find some of the tips helpful for your situation. Good luck with your journey, and be welcome to discuss any matters about it here.
It’s been a month on therapy, and it’s been going well. However, I want to know whether someone got rid of their OCD problems forever. I want to wake up one day and no longer consider myself a person with OCD.
From what I know, some people recover. By recovery is meant that they still experience intrusive thoughts, but it doesn’t affect their daily life that much anymore. Others continue with their medication to feel more secure that their OCD won’t come back. Every case is individual, taking into account all the different types of OCD.
Thanks for making things more clear. I would be pleased to get rid of my OCD and any associated symptoms. But maybe, for now, it’s better to focus on improving my condition and taking my life into control.
Absolutely. Start slowly and enthusiastically about it. When things are challenging or uncertain, creating some enthusiasm within yourself always helps.
Then you should create an environment and do things that genuinely keep you happy most of the time. Start doing your favorite hobbies more often, spend more time with your friends and/or partner, work on achieving the things you wish the most, etc. You just have to identify what makes you happiest and create your comfort zone.
Good point. Our environment is the most important factor that either makes or breaks our mental state. I am constantly working to improve my environment and habits, which keeps me somewhat sane, considering my noise irritability.
I like your enthusiasm and effort toward improving your life. However, sometimes we need external help because all that self-help information we consume does not lead to anything than confusion. The key is to know how to apply and stick to habits, not just beware of what is best. For your noise irritability, I kindly suggest you seek further professional help.
I really liked the part that we need external help to apply specific solutions to our problems. I have the confidence that my routines and actions are overall healthy. Nevertheless, talking with someone I admire gives me the extra push to do better.
We are human beings, so naturally, we will always have certain insecurities and doubts. As you mentioned, mental health talks are more or less essential. It’s widely known that even the best psychologists go to therapy sessions too.
I can’t agree more with you. I love talking about my struggles and failures because, in the end, I naturally forget about the pain and all the negative emotions. I only keep remembering the story as it is to serve as a lesson.
Its great that you learned how to do it without feeling embarrassed or going through the same pain again. I guess those are the main things that stop other people from sharing their unhappy moments.