Living Beyond OCD Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Patricia E. Zurita Ona, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist specialized in working with children, adolescents, and adults struggling with OCD, anxiety, and emotion regulation problems. Dr. Z is the founder of the East Bay Behavior Therapy Center, a boutique therapy practice, where she runs an intensive outpatient program integrating ACT and Exposure Response Prevention (ERP). She is also a fellow from the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), member of the OCD San Francisco Bay Area (affiliate from the International OCD Foundation), and a chair of the committee for the Anxiety and Depression American Association (ADAA). Dr Z gave a TEDX talk titled ‘Stop Playing-It-Safe and Start Living’ at Gunn High School in 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gdXbMoTEZg.

Introduction; PART I Getting to Know Your Mind: A Pattern-Making Machine; 1 Obsessions Are the Norm!; 2 If Obsessions Are Normal, What About OCD?; 3 What Keeps OCD Going?; 4 Why Are Obsessions So Hard to Let Go Of?; 5 Are There Different Types of OCD?; PART II What Would ACT Do for You?; 6 What Is This Thing Called “ACT”?; 7 What About ACT and Exposure?; 8 What Lies Ahead?; PART III The Trilogy That Makes Your Life Miserable; 9 What Are the Compulsions You’re Doing?; 10 Don’t Forget About Avoidant Behaviors!; 11 Do You Know Your Ruling-Thoughts?; PART IV Facts and Fantasy About Getting Rid of Obsessions; 12 How Do Ruling-Thoughts, Compulsions and Avoidant Behaviors Work?; 13 How Are You Relating to Yourself These Days?; 14 What’s Really in Your Control?; 15 What About Dropping Those “Getting Rid of Obsessions” Strategies?; PART V Learning to Date Your Mind; 16 Let Your Mind Do Its Own Minding; 17 Fall Out of Blind Love With Your Mind!; 18 Get Out of the Content of Your Mind!; 19 Stay “In the Moment,” Not in Your Head!; 20 Keep in Mind the F of Thinking, Not What It Looks Like!; 21 Make Room for Disturbing Content in Your Mind!; 22 Watch Out for Fake-Acceptance!; 23 Hold Your Mind Lightly!; 24 Always Check What Works!; PART VI Shift, Shift, Shift . . . Shift Your Moves!; 25 Watching Your Mind; 26 Riding the Wave of Fear, Anxiety, and Terrible Feelings; 27 Acceptance Moves; 28 Keeping an Eye on Your Shift Moves!; PART VII Designing Your Life and Living Your Life; 29 Figuring Out What Matters; 30 Living Your HOWs; 31 Counting Your HOWs Moves; 32 Taking a Break; PART VIII Making W.I.S.E. M.O.V.E.S.; 33 Put Together Your Values-Guided Exposure Menu; 34 Make W.I.S.E. M.O.V.E.S. When Practicing Values-Guided Exposures; 35 Get Familiar With Different Types of Values-Guided Exposure Exercises; 36 Make the Best of Your Values-Guided Exposures; 37 Read About What You May Feel When Making W.I.S.E. M.O.V.E.S.; 38 Remove Your Compulsions From the Equation; 39 Track Your Planned W.I.S.E. M.O.V.E.S.; PART IX Unpacking Blocks for Making W.I.S.E. M.O.V.E.S.; 40 I Can’t Do It: Reason-Giving Thoughts; 41 I Would Rather Be Safe: Values-Conflict or Fake-Value?; 42 Why Am I Doing This?: Lack of Values Clarity; 43 I’m Doing Hundreds of Exposures: New Compulsion?; PART X Moving Forward; 44 Make Mini W.I.S.E. M.O.V.E.S. On-the-Go; 45 Soften Up With Self-Compassion; 46 What Gets in Your Way of Being Kind to Yourself?; Self-Compassion Reflective Exercises; 48 Self-Compassion Exercises On-the-Run; 49 Life Is Imperfect!; 50 The Illusion of Control; 51 How to Handle Those Unexpected Moments; Departing Words; Appendices; About the Author; Bibliography; Index