Near the end of my most recent time in therapy for OCD, I had made a lot of progress, but I wasn’t convinced that it would stick. This was my third time going through a big process of cutting out compulsions, and I hadn’t made any special breakthroughs. So why should I assume that I wouldn’t end up struggling again? It had already happened twice.

During one of my sessions, I decided to bring up this topic with my psychologist. I said something like: “Every time I cut out a set of compulsions, sooner or later, I develop a new set of compulsions. I’ve cut out a lot of compulsions during my time in this program, but I’m worried that they will eventually be replaced with new ones. Maybe even worse ones. Why does this always happen? Is there any way to stop this pattern?”

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