9: The Alternative Story Client Copy

Module 10

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 Alternative Story

Module 10

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 Alternative 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.

Bridging

Neurodivergent Stories

The Obsessional Story

The Logic of OCD

Theory

Recap

Bridging

Neurodivergent Stories

The Obsessional Story

The Logic of OCD

Theory

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

Recap

The Alternative Story

Reality Sensing

The Monotropic Bubble

OCD is Imaginary & Irrelevant

The Feared Self

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

Recap

The Alternative Story

Reality Sensing

OCD is Imaginary & Irrelevant

The Monotropic Bubble

The Feared Self

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

Recap

LEARNING POINTS

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.

Understand the construction of narratives

LEARNING POINTS

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

Grasp that beliefs about reality are powerfully affected by the stories we tell ourselves

Understand the construction of narratives

LEARNING POINTS

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

We want to be careful not to fill in too many gaps in reasoning about the world with imaginary scenarios

Grasp that beliefs about reality are powerfully affected by the stories we tell ourselves

Understand the construction of narratives

LEARNING POINTS

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

-with a doubt

Remember Bridging?

OCD will link a trigger/ perception-

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

But what if it could still be open?

My door locked fine

OCD will link a trigger with a doubt

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

Certainty

But what if it could still be open?

My door locked fine

With a doubt

OCD will link a trigger with a doubt

OCD will link a trigger/ perception with a doubt

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

Certainty

But what if it could still be open?

My door locked fine

OCD will link a trigger with a doubt

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

Certainty

I trust myself and my senses to know that it's locked

My door locked fine

OCD will link a trigger with a doubt

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

Should not be used as a new compulsion

Add details

Expand the story beyond the sequence

Use the senses

Slowing it down

Do's and Don'ts of Alternative Stories

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

I have a pet flying pig.

Imaginal Absorption

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

Your friend is working for an experimental genetic laboratory where the scientists have been working on mating birds and mammals. They have succeeded with rats and a dove, and they are moving up on the evolutionary scale. When you arrived at your friend’s laboratory one day, his team shows you how they have created a new experiment mating an eagle with a pig. The creature can barely get its wings up and wasn't fit to survive out in the wild. The team was at a loss at what to do until they had the idea of asking you if you could care for the mammal.

Imaginal Absorption

I've won the lottery twice.

Imaginal Absorption

I've won the lottery twice.

Imaginal Absorption

Five years ago at the gas station, I decided to splurge on a $20 scratch-off ticket while filling up my tank and grabbing snacks for a long-awaited road trip. I hopped back into my car, eager to hit the road. But first, I scratched off the ticket. My heart pounded as the numbers appeared – I had just won $10,000! Adrenaline surged through me, and I couldn't resist trying my luck again. I ran back into the store, my hands trembling as I bought a second ticket. The store clerk watched with wide eyes as I scratched it off right there at the counter. My jaw dropped, and the clerk gasped in disbelief – I had just won $50,000! We were both stunned. I felt like the luckiest person alive.

Imaginal Absorption

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

I can see with my eyes the lock in place. I can feel and hear the click of the lock mechanism fall into place.

End with certainty

Start with the trigger

I trust my senses that the door is locked.

My door locked fine

Building an Alternative Story

My door locked fine

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

that the door is locked

I trust my senses

My door locked fine

my eyes the lock in place

I can see with

I can feel and hear the click of the lock mechanism

I can see with my eyes the lock in place. I can feel and hear the click of the lock mechanism fall into place.

I trust my senses that the door is locked.

My door locked fine

I walk into the store and grab a cart for my groceries. I go about my grocery shopping as usual.

I’m listening to my favorite podcast on the way to pick up my groceries. I can feel the cool breeze blowing on my face as I drive. I arrive, park my car, and get out.

that the door is locked

I trust my senses

my eyes the lock in place

I can see with

My door locked fine

I can feel and hear the click of the lock mechanism

I can see with my eyes the lock in place. I can feel and hear the click of the lock mechanism fall into place.

I trust my senses that the door is locked.

My door locked fine

I walk into the store and grab a cart for my groceries. I go about my grocery shopping as usual.

I’m listening to my favorite podcast on the way to pick up my groceries. I can feel the cool breeze blowing on my face as I drive. I arrive, park my car, and get out.

that the door is locked

I trust my senses

my eyes the lock in place

I can see with

My door locked fine

I can feel and hear the click of the lock mechanism

I can see with my eyes the lock in place. I can feel and hear the click of the lock mechanism fall into place.

I trust my senses that the door is locked.

Or a story that is coming your reality determined by your sensory experience?

Which one are you going to choose to believe? A story full of irrelevant associations coming from the imagination....

Compare stories

My door locked fine, but there could be a fault in the lock. Doors do get left open. I left my door unlocked last week. I can't see the lock mechanism, so what if it could still be open?

My door locked fine. I can see with my eyes the lock in place. I can feel and hear the click of the lock mechanism falling into place. I trust my senses that the door is locked.

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

We aren't arguing with their OCD! We are simply recognizing that there is another story that is equally possible

Changing Our Story

Stories define us

Stories

Use the Senses & Real Self

The more senses involved, the better!

Impact

These stories can impact our feelings and beliefs

Changing our stories changes how we live in our world

Stories define who we are and where we are going

We all create stories about our lives and ourselves

Another Story

Wrap Up..

The Cheats & Tricks of OCD

Next Up,

Facts

Things that are objectively true.

• People get sick
• Natural disasters happen
• Cars are among the leading causes of accidental deaths worldwide
• Ticks carry diseases
• People get hacked
• Pesticides are used in many agricultural products

• It's against the law to assault somebody
• Were supposed to go to the doctors

• Were supposed to ash our hands for 30 seconds
• Were supposed to lock our doors at night
• Were not supposed to cheat if were in a monogomous relationship

• Social Norms
• Rules
• Expectations
• Laws
• Cultural/religious

Rules

Guidelines that people follow. This can be:

For Example:

Constantly doubting relationships based on a past betrayal.Avoiding cats due to being scratched by one years ago.Never using public transportation again after getting lost.

Personal Experience

Consectetur adipiscing elit

An individual's reliance on their own past events and observations as evidence to support obsessional doubt

Refusing to drive after experiencing a minor car accidentWashing hands excessively due to a past illness caused by germs.Checking the stove repeatedly due to once leaving it on accidentally.Avoiding gardening after encountering a snake