Living with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can be an isolating experience. Even when someone understands their OCD and has made progress in treatment, maintaining skills, navigating setbacks, and finding people who truly understand the experience can be challenging.
For individuals living with particularly stigmatized OCD themes, that isolation can feel even greater. Fear of judgment or misunderstanding may make it difficult to talk openly about intrusive thoughts—even in spaces where someone is seeking help.
To create more opportunities for connection and continued growth, Journey Inward Counseling is offering two virtual OCD groups beginning in September: an ERP Skills Group and Taboo Tuesday OCD Support Group.
Each group serves a different purpose, allowing participants to find support that fits where they are in their OCD journey.
ERP Skills Group: Strengthening Your ERP Practice
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is an evidence-based treatment approach commonly used for OCD. Learning ERP, however, is only part of the process. Continuing to practice those skills—and knowing how to return to them when OCD begins gaining ground—can be equally important.
The ERP Skills Group is a non-clinical skills group designed for people who already have some familiarity with ERP or who are currently working with an individual therapist and want additional opportunities to strengthen their skills.
The group will provide psychoeducation and support with exposure planning, while participants complete exposures outside of the group setting.
The ERP Skills Group may be especially helpful for individuals who:
- Have previously completed ERP treatment and want to refresh their skills
- Are experiencing a lapse or recurrence of OCD symptoms
- Want transitional support following discharge from more intensive treatment
- Are currently participating in individual therapy and would benefit from additional ERP-focused skill building
- Work with a therapist who does not specialize in ERP and want additional education and tools
Rather than replacing individual therapy, this group is intended to complement existing or previous treatment and help participants continue putting ERP principles into practice.
ERP Skills Group Details
When: Wednesdays at 2:30 p.m.
Format: Virtual
Length: 1 hour
Cost: $50 per session
Begins: September 16
Format: Virtual
Length: 1 hour
Cost: $50 per session
Begins: September 16
Taboo Tuesday: An OCD Support Group Without Judgment
OCD remains widely misunderstood—not only by the general public, but sometimes within healthcare settings as well. For people experiencing intrusive thoughts involving highly stigmatized subjects, that misunderstanding can create profound feelings of shame and isolation.
Taboo Tuesday is a virtual OCD support group specifically created for people experiencing what are sometimes referred to as “taboo” OCD themes.
These may include:
- Pedophilia OCD (POCD)
- Harm OCD
- Moral scrupulosity
- Other intrusive thoughts or themes that feel frightening, shameful, or difficult to discuss
Experiencing an intrusive thought does not mean someone wants that thought to happen or that the thought reflects their character. Yet the nature of OCD can make intrusive thoughts feel deeply significant, creating cycles of fear, doubt, avoidance, and shame.
That shame can also become a barrier to seeking appropriate support.
Taboo Tuesday offers a space for people from different walks of life to connect around a shared experience: living with OCD themes that can feel incredibly difficult to talk about.
Participants will have an opportunity to share their experiences, hear from others who understand, and recognize that taboo intrusive thoughts are part of the OCD experience for many people.
The goal is not to reinforce or analyze the content of intrusive thoughts. Instead, the group aims to reduce isolation, normalize the experience of taboo OCD themes, and lessen the shame and fear that can prevent people from seeking effective treatment.
Taboo Tuesday Group Details
When: Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.
Format: Virtual
Length: 1 hour
Cost: $25 per session
Begins: September 15
Format: Virtual
Length: 1 hour
Cost: $25 per session
Begins: September 15
You Don’t Have to Navigate OCD Alone
OCD often thrives in secrecy. When intrusive thoughts feel frightening or unacceptable, it can be tempting to hide them, avoid discussing them, or believe that no one else could possibly understand.
But people with OCD are not defined by the content of their intrusive thoughts.
Whether you are looking to strengthen ERP skills you’ve already learned or hoping to find community with others who understand the challenges of taboo OCD themes, these groups are intended to provide additional support, education, and connection.
Interested in joining one of our OCD groups?
Contact Journey Inward Counseling to learn more, determine which group may be the best fit, and ask about registration.
Journey Inward Counseling
Boulder, Colorado
Phone: (720) 263-0334
Email: manager@journeyinwardcounseling.net
Boulder, Colorado
Phone: (720) 263-0334
Email: manager@journeyinwardcounseling.net
