Specialized Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for OCD
Published March 2025 In Malan’s Model of OCD, we introduced the idea that OCD functions as a defense mechanism that negotiates an emotional conflict. In this article we’ll go into further detail regarding the origins of emotional conflicts and how OCD functions as a defense. We’ll then use that understanding to conceptualize a psychoanalytic approach [ ] The post OCD as a Defense Mechanism…
OCD isn’t random or illogical. It is a comprehensible, logical strategy (avoidance and compulsion) aimed at preventing the Core Fear. Recovering from OCD requires recognizing that you are employing a strategy that doesn’t work, and learning that you have the ability to make different choices that lead to feeling better. Put another way, recovering from OCD [ ] The post It Matters How We Talk About…
* Published December 2022 Three Types of OCD Cases: Integrating Malan’s Model of OCD with the Core Fear Model As discussed here, an individual’s OCD symptoms are aimed at avoiding a specific form of emotional distress, or Core Fear. And as discussed here, OCD symptoms are aimed at preventing a loss of attachment. So is [ ] The post Three Types of OCD Cases * appeared first on Dr. Michael J.…
Three Types of OCD Cases: Integrating Malan’s Model of OCD with the Core Fear Model As discussed here, an individual’s OCD symptoms are aimed at avoiding a specific form of emotional distress, or Core Fear. And as discussed here, OCD symptoms are aimed at preventing a loss of attachment. So is the Core Fear always [ ] The post Three Types of OCD Cases appeared first on Dr. Michael J. Greenberg .
* Published December 2022 In his book Individual Psychotherapy and the Science of Psychodynamics, Dr. David Malan offered a simple model for conceptualizing the emotional and relational dynamics underlying OCD. This article presents my simplified version of Malan’s model, largely loyal to the original but filled in and slightly adjusted. I have found this model [ ] The post Malan s Model of OCD *…
The below is the first article I wrote on this topic a few years ago. These ideas have evolved significantly since that time. Rumination-Focused ERP: Turning Exposure On Its Head and Targets and Rationales for RF-ERP Exposures offer the most current version of my approach to exposure. I believe that the issue of compulsive thinking, or [ ] The post Rethinking the Process and Treatment of…
Please note that the below is an older article that requires significant revision in light of how my definition and conceptualization of compulsive rumination have evolved over the past few years. I do not think this article presents a complete, or completely accurate, description of compulsive rumination. Nonetheless, I have chosen to keep it posted [ ] The post Why Rumination is a Continuous…
Please note that this is an older article. Thinking about exposure in terms of learning was a conceptual stepping stone between thinking in terms of habituation (the classical model) and thinking in terms of restoring agency (my current model). Rumination-Focused ERP: Turning Exposure On Its Head and Targets and Rationales for RF-ERP Exposures offer the most [ ] The post Exposure Is About…
Please note that this is an older article. Thinking about exposure in terms of learning was a conceptual stepping stone between thinking in terms of habituation (the classical model) and thinking in terms of restoring agency (my current model). Rumination-Focused ERP: Turning Exposure On Its Head and Targets and Rationales for RF-ERP Exposures offer the most current version of my [ ] The post…
I recommend reading Awareness, Attention, Distraction, and Rumination before reading this article, since the concepts discussed there are foundational to the approach outlined below. Sensorimotor OCD (also known as Somatically Focused OCD) refers to cases in which people become hyper attentive to their bodily sensations, such as breathing, swallowing, or heartbeat. While this might not sound so […