Before I found the OCD recovery social media channels I was going to conventional CBT therapy, using the “thoughts are thoughts” approach. Initially, I had great success with this and thought I was free from OCD forever. However, OCD morphed and using these mantras became a huge reassurance compulsion. My themes changed and became more taboo in nature. The realness factor went up a notch and I felt stuck – I was suffering from chronic shame, guilt and anxiety and a high frequency of intrusive thoughts.

This all changed when I found the OCD recovery YouTube channel back in 2022. I started watching the videos, attending webinars most weeks and joined one of the WhatsApp groups. The content and no-nonsense approach really resonated with me. I put in lots of work disputing my irrational beliefs, doing exposures, changing life structure and cutting compulsions/avoidance. This was very hard, but so worth it. Looking back I don’t know how I found the strength at times when I felt my worst, but I did! The approach taken by Rob and the other coaches gave me a good philosophical understanding of unconditional acceptance and stoicism.

3 and a half years on, things are completely different. I no longer suffer from chronic shame, guilt or anxiety and intrusive thoughts are rare and do not have the same “stickiness”. I’ve had a couple of setbacks in this time but have effectively managed them using the tools I’ve learned. My life is in a completely different place, my habits are better and I’ve taken the tools applied in recovery and used them to improve many aspects of my life. I feel in a better place to take on the challenges of life, including any OCD setbacks. Everyone in these WhatsApp groups, if your current approach isn’t working, I’d encourage you to really commit to the recovery process and changing your beliefs, it could be a real game changer!