Mindfulness for OCD: How to Stay Grounded Without Trying to Control Anxiety
Understanding Mindfulness in OCD Therapy
In my last post, I talked about using mindfulness to treat OCD. I want to spend some more time talking about this because I think it is an extremely helpful approach to managing OCD, while I also think it can feel confusing and abstract.
Why Mindfulness Can Feel So Uncomfortable at First
For example, when using mindfulness for OCD, we are practicing responding to our thoughts differently by not DOING anything about our thoughts or the distress that is coupled with our intrusive thoughts. That is probably going to feel strange, irresponsible, or even impossible when you're dealing with OCD. That's because with OCD, we are stuck in a habit and a cycle of compulsively trying to make our thoughts and feelings go away or feel better. So when we use a different approach, like mindfulness, to intervene with OCD thoughts and feelings, which looks like allowing thoughts and feelings to be present-of course, that is going to feel really weird. You've been working hard at not allowing these things to be present, and now I am saying do the opposite. But with time and practice, this will make more sense.
Example of Health OCD:
As always, I want to use a hypothetical situation to illustrate what mindfulness for OCD looks like in therapy. Let's say Isabella is struggling with health OCD. Every time she has an ache or pain, like a headache or indigestion, she worries it could be a life-threatening illness. She has gone to the doctor compulsively, meaning she has made many doctor's appointments and has had extensive lab work, and she has been told that she is in good health. This is what led Isabella to seek treatment for OCD.
In therapy, I would use mindfulness with Isabella by guiding her to allow a worried "what if" thought to be present without answering the question in her mind, without debating it, without doing research, or asking other people's opinions about her health. Instead, she labels the thought as a thought, or even a worried thought, and she does nothing. She comes back to the present moment, where she is in therapy talking to me.
Learning to Allow Thoughts Without Responding to Them
And maybe in the present moment she is feeling anxious, scared, and maybe some part of her body is uncomfortable, which is making her feel even more anxious. With mindfulness, I would guide Isabella through allowing the discomfort to be present in her body without judging it as good or bad, and then returning to the present moment.
For example, let's say she has a headache. I would guide Isabella through naming the sensation, such as "pain in my head," "throbbing in my head," or "tension right here," and allowing it to be there without catastrophizing the feeling, without fortune-telling about the future, and without trying to analyze what the sensation could mean. Instead, we label the sensation and return to whatever we are doing in the moment, in this case, talking together in the therapy session.
Making Space for Anxiety Without Compulsions
Most likely, she would feel some anxiety as she begins learning to allow intrusive thoughts and sensations to be present without doing compulsions. With mindfulness, we treat emotions similarly to thoughts. So with Isabella, I would guide her to name the emotion she is experiencing, such as anxiety, and allow it to be present without catastrophizing it, trying to analyze what the anxiety could mean, or ruminating about how long it will last. Instead, we allow the feeling to be, we allow the anxious sensations to be present in the body, and we come back to the present moment and engage in what is happening. In Isabella's case, that would be returning to the therapy room and talking with me.
How Mindfulness Changes Your Relationship with OCD
So, how does this help Isabella? It begins to show her mind that these thoughts, bodily sensations, and emotions are not dangerous and that they are not an emergency. When we allow these things to be present without doing anything about them, eventually our mind starts to get the picture that they aren't dangerous and that we can experience anxiety and fear without it being the end of the world.
Creating Distance from OCD Thoughts
Something else begins to happen, which is that we start to realize we are so much more than these distressing thoughts. Usually, in the beginning of OCD therapy, we are so fused with our OCD obsessions and compulsions that we don't feel like our usual selves. All we can see is OCD, and there isn't room for anything else. There isn't room for other thoughts or other parts of ourselves. Even activities are hard to engage with fully because we are so consumed by OCD.
When we begin to practice mindfulness, we are reminded that we can have some distance from our thoughts. There is room for difficult thoughts and feelings to be present in the moment, but we also have the capacity to hold so much more. Our authentic selves can be present too. Mindfulness helps us start to get untangled from our OCD thoughts and feelings so that our true selves can begin to emerge. That doesn't mean OCD thoughts don't still pop up, but we begin to get some distance from them.
Mindfulness Is a Practice, Not a Quick Fix
I can't emphasize enough that this takes time and practice. When we have OCD, we often want a quick fix, but there aren't any quick fixes. That doesn't mean, though, that learning to approach OCD differently, such as through mindfulness, takes forever. I watch people in my therapy practice all the time learn new ways of relating to their OCD and to their minds in general so that they can return to the life they want.
If you want to learn more about OCD therapy with me, please feel free to reach out. I would love to hear from you.
OCD Counseling in Boston, MA & San Diego, CA
Learning to respond differently to intrusive thoughts is often much harder than it sounds. When OCD is active, it can feel urgent to analyze a thought, find certainty, make anxiety go away, or figure out what something means. Mindfulness offers another path-one that involves stepping out of the debate and learning that thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations can be present without needing to be solved.
At Jen Lescher, LCSW, I offer OCD counseling in Boston, MA and online throughout California, including San Diego. I work with individuals struggling with intrusive thoughts, rumination, relationship OCD (ROCD), moral OCD, harm OCD, health OCD, and other anxiety-related challenges.
Drawing from evidence-based approaches such as:
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
mindfulness-based interventions
I help people build a different relationship with uncertainty so OCD no longer takes up so much space in their lives.
Ready to Begin OCD Therapy?
If you've been caught in endless mental debates, constantly searching for certainty, or feeling exhausted by intrusive thoughts, therapy at Jen Lescher, LCSW, can help you learn a different way forward. Recovery isn't about never having OCD thoughts again; it's about learning how to respond to them differently.
Contact me here to schedule an initial consultation and share a little about what you've been experiencing.
Explore blog posts for additional insights into OCD recovery, mindfulness and more.
Practice new ways of responding to OCD, build self-trust, and create more space for the things that matter most to you.
Additional Resources for OCD, Anxiety & Mindfulness
Looking to learn more? In addition to providing OCD counseling, Jen offers educational resources to help you better understand OCD and the recovery process. Explore Common OCD Themes and OCD social life for discussions on Relationship OCD (ROCD), Moral OCD, Harm OCD, rumination, intrusive thoughts, ERP therapy, and ICBT for OCD. These resources are designed to help you make sense of what you're experiencing and reinforce the skills you're learning both in and outside of therapy.
About Jen Lescher
Hi, I'm Jen.
I'm a therapist, coffee enthusiast (honestly, it's my favorite part of the day), and a big believer in finding small moments of presence-whether that's through mindfulness, photography, or a quiet walk with my camera in hand. Photography helps me stay grounded and see the world with a little more curiosity, and that same mindset shows up in my work with clients. I've been drawn to spirituality and healing work since I was a teenager, exploring everything from meditation to energy practices. But I'm also someone who loves blasting music in the car and getting lost in a true crime podcast. I think healing can include both stillness and movement, reflection and laughter. Therapy should have room for all of that. Since 2007, I've worked in a range of mental health settings, which taught me that healing isn't one-size-fits-all. It's personal, evolving, and sometimes messy-but always possible.
Training & Background:
Inference-Based CBT (ICBT) for OCD - The OCD Training School & The Cognitive Behavioral Institute
Certified in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) - The Cognitive Behavioral Institute
Gottman Method Couples Therapy - Level 1
Master's in Social Work - Portland State University, 2012
