Why Certainty Isn't the Answer: OCD, Intrusive Thoughts & Recovery with Dr. Jon Abramowitz (301)
6/9/20261 hr 11 min
You can’t think your way out of OCD
In part one of our three-part series on Anxiety and OCD, Dr. Jon Abramowitz helps us understand why intrusive thoughts are normal, how OCD turns them into a source of distress, and what keeps the cycle going. We explore uncertainty, reassurance-seeking, relationship dynamics, and the research-backed treatments that help people reclaim their lives from OCD.In this conversation, we unpack the surprising truth about intrusive thoughts, why reassurance often backfires, and how learning to tolerate uncertainty can be a powerful path toward recovery.
“There is no such...
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First 90 secondsJonathan Abramowitz· Guest0:00
When we give patients the rationale, when we explain to them what's gonna happen with exposure and response prevention, and when we set it up collaboratively with them, I find, and people that I supervise, we find that people do engage, and it's not this terrible thing that a lot of TV shows and all that make it out to be. A lot of therapists that I come across are themselves afraid to do exposure therapy with their clients because maybe they're a little anxious about it. So it is definitely a thing where it's, it's a challenge on both the, the patient's side and the therapist's side.
Speaker 20:41
[upbeat music] Welcome to Therapist Uncensored. Building on decades of professional experience, this podcast tackles neurobiology, modern attachment, and more in an honest way that's helpful in healing humans. Your session begins now with Dr. Ann Kelly and Sue Marriott.
Ann Kelley· Host0:58
[upbeat music] Hey, you guys. While we know relationships are wonderful, they are also really hard. Many of us believe that they shouldn't be, that if we have good connection and good communication, things will just go smoothly. But it's really that belief that can make us feel stubborn and even more hopeless. So relationships take work. It does for Sue and I. We can make it look easy. It's not. And one of the ways is 'cause many