Autonomy Alliance Counseling

10/10/2023

It is OCD Awareness Week. There is help and hope for OCD through evidence based treatment!

01/13/2023

I-CBT, ERP, RF-ERP, ACT. Finding the right therapist and the right approach(es) can be difficult with trial and error. Do not give up. You can find the right fit for you.

08/10/2022

Art that was displayed at the International OCD Foundation Conference last month in Denver.

05/05/2022

I really liked this podcast episode of Ten Percent Happier with guest, Dr. Paul Gilbert, talking about self-compassion. He described some active steps to help realize that being self critical does not, in fact, motivate most people to do better, like they often think it does. I tried to capture these exercises in the notes. (Attempt at using Canva. Hope this is legible and helpful.)

Notes from Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris Podcast. Episode #425 with guest, Dr. Paul Gilbert.
https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/paul-gilbert-425

04/20/2022

Making room for difficult emotions, rather than trying to avoid them, fight them, or change them.

03/04/2022

"Putting up with" means tensely going forward, hoping the disturbing feelings will not come. "Putting up with" means withdrawing from panic in panic; adding panic to panic,hoping that panic will go quickly and not come back; it means avoiding people and places that bring on panic so tha tone's horizon becomes narrower and narrower until it is finally bounded by the front gate; it means always keeping the way open for quick retreat; it means expecting retreat. It means continued illness.

True acceptance means letting your stomach churn, letting your hands sweat and tremble, letting your heart thump without being too disconcerted by them. It does not matter if at first you cannot do this calmly--who could? It may be impossible to be calm at this stage. And you may find that one minute you can accept, the next you can't. Don't be upset by this- it is normal in the circumstances. All I ask for as acceptance at this stage is that you are prepared to try to live and work with your symptoms while they are present, without paying them too much respect. Don't be bluffed by physical feelings!

03/01/2022

02/21/2022

I’m learning ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and starting to use it with clients who are interested and using it with myself. We are finding it so helpful!

A new article with a good description of ACT:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/02/19/act-therapy-techniques/?fbclid=IwAR0B8bdxMpC8S9olgMgfKqCUb2BTEyWhaOzVojQRPuxF24Wh2fHclDfoP7g

Even in the midst of inevitable pain and hardship, people can live meaningful lives aligned with their highest values, acceptance and commitment therapy experts say.