Information from those who received OCD treatment

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I'm considering getting OCD treatment. I am going to a support group facilitated by a professional.
However, I'd like to hear about other individual experiences in getting help. What type of treatment did you get? How was it conducted, and how did you feel afterward? Do you think AS made it challenging to communicate or lead to any misunderstandings?

Share as much details as you feel comfortable sharing.

Thanks!

One thing which has helped me is something I borrowed from zen meditation and whole the zen approach:

If I can let myself wind and meander to a place where it’s okay to do a health precaution and also okay not to do it, that’s actually a pretty good place to be.

Interesting...Finding away to be somewhere in the middle.

Hi Lizbeth Ann, I went to therapy for purely obsessive OCD and intrusive thoughts, my last session was in December 2019 and I had begun around 2016. My therapy involved a one hour one-on-one session with a cognitive behavioral therapist, and at first it was just talking about my various day to day problems but it eventuated into finding ways of meditation and 'anchors' to persevere through my difficulties. I can say for a fact, that, with my difficulty understanding social interaction (AS), it was very difficult at first, and by at first I mean the first year or so. I couldn't really get the words I was thinking about saying out of my brain and into the open. Of course it's easier here where I'm just typing behind a screen, but I would get extremely worked up about even walking into the building, even after I had gone to 20 or so sessions. I even sometimes had to cancel. I wanted to go to group therapy eventually, but I couldn't work myself up to it before I stopped going (due to the pandemic). From my experience, therapy can be a great exercise to understand your problems more and cope with them. I was given several worksheets, books, and daily activities to take home with me and reflect on. I wish you the best of luck with your treatment, and I'm sorry if nothing I said helped or had any value

I did 10 sessions or so of ERP CBT(Exposure Response Prevention) with a psychologist years ago to help with my OCD, mainly obsessive checking and handwashing/germaphobia. I was able to nearly completely break my checking compulsions and as for handwashing/germaphobia, well it's a daily struggle still but it's much more manageable. I don't think my ASD affected my treatment much from what I remember, though that was like 10 years ago.

Hey Raven,
I appreciate you sharing your experience of going in for OCD therapy. I especially found it helpful when you explained your social interaction and the process leading to the actual appointments. I could see myself dealing with similar predicaments and having difficulties entering the building.

In going to group therapy, I was a nervous about not saying what I wanted to say. I'm not good at saying what I mean, even through writing. I'm not a native English speaker and suspect that I'm dyslexic. I'm scared of getting stuck in my head and misrepresenting what I wanted to say. To later be misunderstood because I am not great with social cues, I'd focus on the communicating aspect and not benefit from the group setting (this is why I didn't even begin the group therapy.)



Perhaps I'll try one-on-one before I try to experiment with a group setting. At least I can set up realistic expectations on therapy.

Thanks for the information!

Last edited by Lizbeth Ann on 01 Apr 2021, 11:56 pm, edited 5 times in total.

Hi Noca,

I've heard that ERP is different than other types of treatments. I find that this type of therapy can be somewhat helpful with facing fears. (This is also what I want to try)

What I'm starting to understand in regards to treatment and OCD that it's not about perfection. Thanks for the response.