Copy - Mod 3: Client version

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Module 3

The Obsessional

STORY

WATCH

What is going on

in this video?

Heider, F., & Simmel, M. (1944) An experimental study in apparent behavior. The American Journal of Psychology, 57, 243-259.

00:30

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Once you understand the potent impact of narratives, you can move a step closer towards dismissing the doubt.

Stories create doubt & stories trick us.

Stories change the way we feel

They can affect our moods.

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Once you understand the potent impact of narratives, you can move a step closer towards dismissing the doubt.

Stories create doubt & stories trick us.

Stories change the way we feel

They can affect our moods.

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Let's practice...

They have the power to make us feel differently about the same situation or object

Stories Matter!

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

You watch me wash my hands. I dry them off and then open a brand-new pack of pens. I hand one of the pens to you.

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Would you take the pen?

You watch me wash my hands. I dry them off and then open a brand-new pack of pens. I hand one of the pens to you.

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Would you take the pen?

You watch me wash my hands. I dry them off and then open a brand-new pack of pens. I hand one of the pens to you.

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

This pen was found outside in the mud, and it was covered in mud and dog poop. I previously saw a couple of dirty people holding, sucking it, and wiping it under their armpits. It was lying in the dirt and a dog peed on it. I thought it was a nice pen, so he rescued it and wiped it down with a dirty and stained napkin. I haven't had the chance to sterilize it properly. I hand you the pen.

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Would you take the pen now?

This pen was found outside in the mud, and it was covered in mud and dog poop. I previously saw a couple of dirty people holding, sucking it, and wiping it under their armpits. It was lying in the dirt and a dog peed on it. I thought it was a nice pen, so he rescued it and wiped it down with a dirty and stained napkin. I haven't had the chance to sterilize it properly. I hand you the pen.

Would you take the pen now?

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

The pen or the story?

What changed?

This pen was found outside in the mud, and it was covered in mud and dog poop. I previously saw a couple of dirty people holding, sucking it, and wiping it under their armpits. It was lying in the dirt and a dog peed on it. I thought it was a nice pen, so he rescued it and wiped it down with a dirty and stained napkin. I haven't had the chance to sterilize it properly. I hand you the pen.

Imagine you're in a high-end bedding store. You watch the assistant bring out and open a brand new top-of-the-line pillow, explaining that it's filled with the softest down feathers. Since you’re the 100th customer to walk in, they offer this pillow as a complimentary gift. Would you take it and use it for a comfortable night's sleep?

Would you take the pillow home for a comfortable nights sleep now?

Now, imagine that you are walking by a dumpster and seeing a stained pillow that looks like it’s been out there for days. You watch a cat lay on the pillow and start to give birth to 5 kittens on top of the pillow. You think about rescuing the cats, but you can see that all of them are covered in fleas. You realize the cat isn’t house-trained because it proceeds to pee on the pillow.

Imagine you're in a high-end bedding store. You watch the assistant bring out and open a brand new top-of-the-line pillow, explaining that it's filled with the softest down feathers. Since you’re the 100th customer to walk in, they offer this pillow as a complimentary gift. Would you take it and use it for a comfortable night's sleep?

Would you take the pillow home for a comfortable nights sleep now?

Now, imagine that you are walking by a dumpster and seeing a stained pillow that looks like it’s been out there for days. You watch a cat lay on the pillow and start to give birth to 5 kittens on top of the pillow. You think about rescuing the cats, but you can see that all of them are covered in fleas. You realize the cat isn’t house-trained because it proceeds to pee on the pillow.

Would you use the soap?

You open a brand-new, fresh pack of soap. It's special, delivered from an organic company in Switzerland that uses all-natural ingredients.

Would you use the soap?

You find this soap bar on the floor in the shower at your local gym. You previously saw somebody washing their dog that was covered in poop in the shower, and they happened to leave their soap there. The soap smells of poop and chemicals and has dog hair left on it.

Would you use the soap?

You open a brand-new, fresh pack of soap. It's special, delivered from an organic company in Switzerland that uses all-natural ingredients.

Using your imagination, tell me a joyful story about this scene.

Using your imagination, tell me a scary story about this scene.

Using your imagination, tell me a scary story about this scene.

Using your imagination, tell me an funny story about this scene.

Now tell me a scary story about this scene.

Now tell me a scary story about this scene.

Hey, i'm sorry but i've got to cancel our plans tonight.

Wednesday, December 19

10:30

GENIALLY

1 new message

now

Using your imagination, tell me a story about this message that involves deception.

Hey, i'm sorry but i've got to cancel our plans tonight.

Wednesday, December 19

10:30

GENIALLY

1 new message

now

Using your imagination, tell me a story about this message that involves honesty.

Using your imagination, tell me acute story about this scene.

Using your imagination, tell me agross story about this scene.

Similarly, obsessive doubts also emerge and seem real to us through the stories we create.

The narratives we construct in our minds significantly shape our experiences, influence our beliefs, and determine how real these beliefs feel to us.

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Outlining The

Obsessional Story

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Undergoing this process is important because it helps us understand that the stories we create in our minds have a big impact on how we feel about things.

This is the moment for your OCD to take center stage. This is the singular occasion when we listen to what your OCD has to say. We are handing your OCD the mic!

Let's see what your OCD can come up with

Exercise

I’m driving to work and suddenly I feel a thump. What if I accidently hit a person? I heard about that neighbor’s kid that was waiting for the school bus the other day and almost got hit by a car. Pedestrians get hit all the time. It’s possible that I could look off for a second and potentially hit somebody. I have allergies. and when I sneeze, I must shut my eyes. What if during that split second, I accidently ran off the road? A few weeks ago on the news, I saw somebody get charged with murder after they hit somebody, even though it was completely on accident! My steering wheel has been kind of shaky recently, so I could lose control of my car and go off the road, up onto the sidewalk and hit somebody. I remember in college when my friend Samantha got hit by a car while she was riding her bike to class one day. Accidents happen all the time! If I hit a person, I couldn’t live with myself being so negligent. I’ll surely loose my license and go to jail. I’m sure their family would be devastated. I know I was devastated when I lost my step dad who died in a car accident from somebody being negligent. That could be me! What if I hit a pedestrian?

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

The Obsessional Story

I'm at my grandmother's funeral, surrounded by grieving family members. I look around at the other people and see they are crying. Despite our lack of a relationship, a part of me wonders if I should be crying as well. She was, after all, my family. The fact that everyone else is mourning and I am not leaves me questioning my own emotional state; perhaps, I lack the capacity for emotion. Sociopaths don't have emotions. I remember learning on True Crime that sociopaths hurt their victims because they don't have any emotions. It reminds me of when my brother was hospitalized under tragic circumstances. Amidst the family's tears, I was singled out for my lack of visible emotion, accused by my mother of being emotionless. Attempting to offer comfort to my brother by sharing my own hospital experience, I was met with accusations of selfishness, of making the moment about myself. This has led me to question my motives—was I subconsciously seeking attention? Could I be a sociopath?

Adapted by Brittany Goff from: O'Connor, K., & Aardema, F. (2012). Clinician's handbook for obsessive compulsive disorder: Inference-based therapy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

My friend hasn't texted me back after I reached out to check on her. We're supposed to check in on friends when they seem stressed or are going through something. The last time we hung out, she wasn't as talkative as usual. I showed up 15 minutes late because I forgot my wallet at home, as usual. She might be upset with me for not being on time. I know my boss gets mad when I'm late to work. Maybe I talked too much during our last interaction. I've been told by others that I can dominate conversations and make them about myself. What if I accidentally offended her?

The Obsessional Story

Bridging

Next up,