Does trauma cause OCD? We're answering the question everyone's been asking. This week Laura compares OCD to herpes (you'll have to listen to find out why), and we dig into the real relationship between trauma and OCD- including why OCD and PTSD get mixed up, what complex PTSD looks like alongside OCD, and how EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) fits into treatment. We also tackle whether therapy itself can traumatise people, what recovery timelines actually look like, and answer your listener questions.

Podcast by:

Laura Mole, Adv. Dip, MBACP OCD specialist therapist

and

Jessica Hayes, Msc PGDip, BABCP Accred OCD and perinatal specialist therapist

Edited by Christian Nickson

Time Stamps:

00:40 Episode overview

01:30 Introduction and hello

03:00 EMDR therapy (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) Therapy

04:15 Brain Spam

07:40 What is trauma?

11:19 Trauma and OCD links

17:00 Does trauma cause OCD?

19:20 Why OCD and PTSD get mixed up sometimes

23:50 Complex PTSD and OCD

28:20 How treatment looks for OCD and trauma combined

35:42 Why we might use the trauma to understand the OCD

39:45 Can you do EMDR online?

44:00 Can we traumatise people in therapy?

48:30 Treatment length and recovery expectations

50:25 Question from the Listeners

57:00 Weekly Wins

57:46 Exposure Lab

59:30 Goodbyes

Get in Touch:

Got intrusive thoughts to share or questions for us:

Email us at ocdcollectiveuk@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok: @justcheckingpod

For our individual OCD pages, you can find Laura on Tiktok and Instagram as @ocdtherapylaura and Jess as @jess_helps_your_ocd

Please check out our privacy policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YJZ4Sdh4OpxjRR9twGY6dOMH9n55Mq6qTqLBxOtN3Fw/edit?usp=sharing

Content Warnings:

We do reference some thoughts that people may find distressing so please listen with caution if this is you, and take a break if you need to.

Disclaimer:

This podcast provides educational content only and is not a substitute for professional mental health support, please contact a mental health professional for advice and support.