PART 7/11 An important step in overcoming OCD was taking exactly those actions that L. feared most. Last time we met, she tried to mentally harm me. My life, as expected, has not undergone any changes, which is what I reported. The client was still afraid, but agreed to repeat this experiment and this time voiced her wishes for me to be beaten on the street, the period was also agreed upon - 1 week. Next, we agreed on another experiment, in order to challenge the belief about the need to think your own words to be clear. I suggested to L. to always say the first thing that comes to mind, to voice everything as it is, even if it is not accurate. Quite quickly, the client managed to “switch” and the communication took on a completely different character, we were able to discuss many more topics and go deeper. Then we began the routine work of challenging old metacognitive beliefs to reinforce new ones. faith in the power of one’s own thoughts still retained its strength. Old MKU - My thoughts are strong and prophetic - How many of your thoughts have come true? - Why doesn’t each of them come true? - Why are these thoughts important, and not any others, also associated with threats? - Do positive thoughts also have power? - Can thoughts be wrong, even if they have confirmation? New MKU - My thoughts do not have much power An important element of the work was the discussion of the prerequisites for the formation of a demanding attitude towards oneself. L. shared memories in which she was often compared to her sister, and her interests and aspirations were often criticized. As a result, L. sought to achieve recognition - if I am not praised for second place, then I need to make sure that I get first place. As a result, L. was also very sensitive to indifference and criticism. This allowed the previously mentioned intermediate belief to be clarified. It acquired the following formulation: PU I must make every effort and self-realization, otherwise I will be nothing, an empty lost person who will be forgotten. Taking into account the additional facts that L. spoke about (tendencies to often be nostalgic, worry that some moment in life may not be repeated again, be it a walk or a call from a loved one), we can say that a certain relationship between personal characteristics and the content of obsessive symptoms begins to be traced - the fear of causing harm or death. I put this forward as a modest hypothesis, because... I don’t like to “psychologize” and pull explanations beyond one’s ears. Nevertheless, the assumption turned out to be not without meaning, and in the future we were able to formulate this relationship more precisely. As independent work, we proposed the ideas described in the previous part: try to harm me by thinking out loud at least 5 times, oversaturate your attention with significant stimuli, i.e. e. Try to find at least 5 black objects every 2 hours. New areas where it was necessary to start exhibitions were also discussed, in particular it was not necessary to choose the right clothes. In addition, I proposed to further speculate on how being demanding of oneself and the fear of causing harm, illness, or death with one’s thoughts can be related. In the next part we will talk about working through irrational beliefs, as well as the attack of hypochondria that L faced. If you have any questions or need to better understand your neurosis, then you can always ask me a question on the website or in the VK group: Freedom from OCD