One of the most valuable parts of a group program is realizing that you're not the only person whose brain does this. OCD can feel incredibly isolating, particularly when intrusive thoughts involve themes that feel frightening, shameful, bizarre, or difficult to explain.

At the same time, an OCD group has to be thoughtful about how participants support one another. We won't use the group to determine whether someone's fear is true, guarantee that something bad won't happen, or help each other reach certainty.

Instead, we'll learn how to support one another without feeding the OCD cycle, while practicing the skills that allow us to live meaningful lives even when uncertainty is present.

You'll never be required to disclose the specific content of intrusive thoughts you aren't comfortable sharing. We can work effectively with OCD patterns, compulsions, avoidance, and uncertainty without requiring you to share every detail of an obsession.

Being Present and Keeping It Private

ERP Essentials meets by video, and I ask that participants keep their cameras on during our sessions. This is a group, not a webinar, and being able to see one another is part of what makes the work possible.

What happens in group stays in group. Confidentiality here works the way it does in group therapy and in support groups: I hold it, and participants agree to hold it for one another. That shared agreement is a large part of what makes it possible to say things out loud that you may never have said to anyone.

ERP is at the heart of this program, but effective OCD treatment is about more than completing an exposure hierarchy.

ERP Essentials incorporates principles from Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). We'll also use mindfulness and self-compassion to help you notice what your mind is doing without automatically reacting to it and to create a softer place to land when this work feels difficult.

ACT adds an especially important question to OCD treatment: What do you want your life to be about when OCD isn't making the decisions?

Instead of waiting until you feel certain, calm, confident, or "ready," you'll practice making room for discomfort while continuing to move toward the people, experiences, and values that matter to you.

The goal isn't to become fearless. It's to build a life that fear doesn't get to run.

Over eight weeks, we'll build a practical foundation for responding differently to OCD. Topics and skills will include:

Understanding your OCD cycle. Learn how obsessions, anxiety, compulsions, avoidance, reassurance, rumination, and temporary relief work together to keep OCD going.

Recognizing less obvious compulsions. OCD isn't always visible. We'll look closely at rumination, reviewing, mental checking, analyzing feelings, trying to "figure it out," and other mental compulsions that can be easy to miss.

Building effective exposures. Learn how ERP works and how to create meaningful exposure practices without turning exposure into another perfectionistic task you have to get right.

Strengthening response prevention. Exposure gets a lot of attention, but response prevention is an essential part of the work. We'll practice identifying what you do to escape, neutralize, solve, or reduce uncertainty and explore different ways of responding.

Making room for uncertainty. OCD wants guarantees that life can't provide. We'll practice recognizing the demand for certainty and allowing some questions to remain unanswered.

Getting unhooked from thoughts. Using ACT-based skills, including cognitive defusion, we'll practice noticing thoughts without automatically treating them as problems that require our attention.

Connecting ERP to your values. Exposure isn't about being uncomfortable for the sake of being uncomfortable. We'll identify what OCD has been pulling you away from and use what matters to you to guide the work.

Preparing for OCD flares. Recovery doesn't mean never feeling anxious or having an intrusive thought again. We'll talk about recognizing old patterns, responding to symptom increases, and continuing to use ERP principles without treating a difficult week as failure.

Each 90-minute session will combine psychoeducation, discussion, skill-building, and practical application. You'll have opportunities to identify your own OCD patterns, develop exposure ideas, strengthen response prevention, practice ACT-based skills, troubleshoot obstacles, and set goals for between-session practice.

This is not a program where you'll simply be handed worksheets and sent on your way. We want to talk about what happens when you know you're ruminating but can't seem to stop, when an exposure suddenly feels impossible, when you aren't sure whether something is a compulsion, or when OCD finds an entirely new topic.

Between sessions, you'll be encouraged to practice what we're learning in your everyday life. There may be weeks when that goes beautifully and weeks when it doesn't. We're not interested in turning ERP into another thing you have to do perfectly.

Progress comes from practice, not perfection.

Everyone receives a workbook created specifically for this program. We'll use it together during our sessions, and it's yours to keep and return to long after the eight weeks are over.

The worksheets are there to support what we're learning, not to replace it. You'll never be handed a page and left to figure it out on your own. We complete them together, talk through what comes up, and use them as a place to hold your own patterns, exposures, and values rather than as homework you have to get right.

Your workbook can be sent to you electronically. If you register at least two weeks before the program begins, I'm also happy to mail you a printed copy.