OCD Recovery Group

Group Type: Therapy Group

Goals of the Group:

• Understand OCD, how it develops, and how it affects daily life.
• Learn and apply CBT and ERP techniques for long-term management.
• Identify and manage triggers, obsessions, and compulsions.
• Build awareness of the OCD cycle and ways to interrupt it.
• Reduce anxiety and fear responses through guided exposure.
• Develop mindfulness and acceptance skills to handle uncertainty.
• Strengthen emotional regulation and self-compassion.
• Create an “anxiety hierarchy” and plan exposure steps safely.
• Build relapse-prevention habits and accountability.
• Improve daily functioning and social confidence through practice.

Who Is The Group For?

• Diagnosed or Suspecting OCD
  • For adults who have an OCD diagnosis or experience intrusive thoughts, rituals, or anxiety patterns - a diagnosis is not required to join.
• Any Type of OCD
  • Participants from previous batches have included people with contamination OCD, checking OCD, intrusive thoughts (Pure O), religious/scrupulosity OCD, symmetry OCD, and harm OCD. The group is open to all kinds of OCD, as CBT and ERP techniques are effective across subtypes.
• Those Seeking Evidence-Based Tools
  • If you want to learn structured, research-backed strategies to manage anxiety, reduce compulsions, and gain control over your daily life.
• People Looking for Support and Connection
  • For anyone who wants to feel less alone, share experiences safely, and build hope and strength alongside others on a similar journey.

Discussion Topics:

• Introduction to OCD
• OCD cycle
• Types of presentations in OCD
• Cognitive Distortions
• Mindfulness and Acceptance
• Gratitude and Compassion
• Triggers, Obsessions, and Compulsions
• Anxiety Hierarchy
• Neuroplasticity
• Relapse Prevention

What Will We Talk About?

• Understanding CBT and ERP
• Identifying and managing triggers, obsessions, and compulsions
• Building an anxiety hierarchy
• Practicing exposure and response prevention (ERP)
• Developing mindfulness and acceptance skills
• Strengthening emotional regulation and self-compassion
• Creating relapse-prevention habits

Glimpse of the Session:

Session 1: Introduction and Understanding OCD

• Introduction to the facilitator and participants
• Where are the participants at?
• Enumerate and understand expectations
• Introduction to OCD
• Exercise – Understanding the difference between obsessions and compulsions
• OCD cycle
• Types of presentations in OCD
• The hidden devils
• Recovery in OCD - Is there a miracle cure?
• Factors impacting recovery
• YBOCS Test

Sessions 2-3: The Twelve Pillars of Recovery (Part 1 & 2) Session 2:

• Feedback on session one and sharing results of YBOCS
• The first pillar - Understanding CBT
• Cognitive Distortions
• Exercise – Cognitive restructuring
• The second pillar – Understanding ERP
• Exercise – Things I got good at
• The third pillar – Understanding Mindfulness
• Exercise – Breathing exercise
• The fourth pillar – Understanding Acceptance

Session 3:

• Feedback on session two
• The fifth pillar – Understanding Gratitude
• Exercise – Practicing gratitude
• The sixth pillar – Insight
• The seventh pillar - Compassion
• Exercise – Practicing compassion
• The next five pillars

Sessions 4-5: Coping Strategies and Preparation Session 4:

• Triggered vs. non-triggered states
• Naming your OCD
• Why saying ‘I don’t care’ is okay
• But the obsessions seem real!
• Exercise – Cognitive Defusion
• Subjective Units of Distress Scale

Session 5:

• Triggers
• Obsessions
• Questions to identify compulsions
• Anxiety hierarchy
• Exercise – Filling up the anxiety hierarchy
• Scheduling ERP
• Neuroplasticity

Session 6: Implementing and Sustaining Recovery

• Doing the exposures
• Reflection after exposures
• Exercise – Reflect after the exposures
• The layered attack of OCD
• The backdoor spike
• Types of exposures
• Find an accountability partner
• Relapse prevention