Harm Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Harm OCD Resources:
Assessment of Harm OCD
The Harm OCD Cycle
Am I Going Crazy? Are My Harm Thoughts Just Thoughts?
Uncertainty Acceptance with Harm OCD

What Makes Our Harm OCD Program Unique?

  • You will get specific readings dedicated to harm obsessive compulsive disorder.

  • Our Psychologist only works with OCD patients and has extensive experience and training working with Harm OCD.

  • We know what success looks like and we will make sure you understand what that looks like too.

  • We have the roadmap to help you overcome this. Which means, you are going to be ok, you are not crazy or a horrible person.

What is Harm Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?

Harm OCD manifests primarily as intrusive thoughts about harming oneself or others. The harm may be feared to happen intentionally or unintentionally (Hersfield 2018). What is important to note is that many people reading about Harm OCD are likely reading about it because they are concerned. They often become overly concerned about their thoughts and think of themselves as potentially going crazy. This can often be overwhelming and frightening. What is important to mention is that there is nothing wrong with wanting to keep yourself or others safe. Clearly, this is something important to you and you are likely doing all of this research to make sure that your concerns are not to be taken lightly. Most responsible people would take these thoughts seriously- but, that’s also the problem. You see, the more concern and attention you give to your thoughts, the more they likely they become intrusive. The more you worry about your feared consequence happening, the more aware and present the thoughts become and the more bothersome.

Non OCD suffers can relate. If you have a problem that you can’t immediately solve, you will ruminate over and over about it. The purpose of ruminating is to potentially come up with a solution. Harm OCD suffers do the same thing. They put a lot of thought and attention to their specific harm thoughts and attempt to rid themselves of the thought or try to figure out how to get rid of the thoughts. This only makes the OCD worse. Most important in this discussion is that they often think that because they have the thought, it’s more likely to happen. Cognitive therapy teaches you that this type of thinking isn’t useful or true. We talk more about this type of distorted thinking in our sessions together.

First Things First - Am I Ready for Treatment for My Harm OCD?

Thinking about treatment can be overwhelming and working on yourself isn’t easy. But, my job is to help you see success through patience, understanding and compassion. What I’ll also teach you is how your own self critic can only make your symptoms worse. With careful instruction and guidance, I’ll make sure that you are as supported as well as can be. There will be times when your OCD tells you that this is too much and you should quit, but we want you to preserve and we succeed. Which means that you will have to ultimately focus on your desires and your motivators to continue with treatment and be the healthiest version of yourself.

Important points from this article

  • Everyone has intrusive thoughts, including non-OCD suffers.

  • You are not crazy or a horrible person.

  • Just because you think of something, doesn’t mean you are any more likely to act on it.

  • It’s ok that you are concerned, that’s a good thing.