Judy Lair

Because I was on the other side of the couch myself. It helped me get a different perspective on things and gave me tools to manage and look at life differently. In the midst of working with my therapist, I kept thinking, 'I probably can do this. I would love to do this.' I have generalized anxiety. I love to travel, but I cannot travel without anxiety. My own anxiety is always relevant experience when I'm there in the trenches with my members.

One of my first clients I had after school called me up and said she had OCD. She knew it, she'd had it for years. She needed a new therapist and started describing it. I was fascinated by how the brain can see things in an inaccurate way. I instinctively knew how to help her. She told me you understand OCD better than anybody else I've ever talked to who doesn't have OCD. I have anxiety, not OCD. I really do understand it well.

I've worked with a variety of conditions, including anxiety and depression. I am also a faith-based counselor, and I've had a couple people ask me, 'What does that mean?' The answer is that my understanding of faith informs my ability to see every person as individual and special in their own right. If somebody is a faith-based person and they want me to incorporate that, I'm very comfortable with that, but it's not something I have to do.

ERP may seem challenging. But living with OCD is really difficult—you already do hard things every day. Doing ERP is a challenge that opens up your world to other things. ERP is extremely effective, because it changes the way you're going through life. With OCD, you go through life on the defensive. You're backing away, trying to hide from everything. You can't live a life that is fulfilling. So we have to change the direction: we have to get on the offense.

Take your time to feel more comfortable sharing what you want to share. We can start with the basics, learning how OCD works. You'll see that your thoughts are just part of the type of OCD you have. These thoughts are not individual to you.