A year and a half ago, when I first started working with Momin, I was in a terrible place. I was paralysed with anxiety around my main worry — chemical contamination. I hadn’t worked for nearly a year. At age 42, I’d moved back in with my parents because I could barely leave the house or do anything inside it without major compulsions and anxiety attacks. My partner of 20 years had left our home in Greece because she couldn’t cope with my OCD.

I had tried multiple therapists and was sinking in debt, but thankfully, I eventually found OCD Recovery. In the short time since I started working with Momin, I’ve left my 20-year marriage (not Momin’s fault 😂), done a lot of very hard exposures, got a job, met a new partner, taken over one of the businesses I ran with my ex, started long-distance trail running, and generally got my life back on track.

I still have a long way to go, but if I think back to that first call with Momin, I honestly could never have imagined being where I am now. Today, as an exposure, I went to one of the biggest oil refineries in Europe, on the outskirts of Bratislava where my girlfriend lives. I was shitting my pants about it but did it — and now I’m deliberately “contaminating” my girlfriend’s flat with the clothes I was wearing.

A big shout-out to everyone at OCD Recovery for all the amazing work you do, and a special big hug to Momin for his coaching and excellent humour. Sometimes he opens the call with, “So, whose death did you cause this week?” 😂