21. The Truth About Self-Compassion: OCD, Anxiety, Eating Disorders, & Chronic Illness with Kimberley Quinlan, LMFT - Your Anxiety Toolkit

On episode 21 of A Chat with Uma, I speak with Kimberley Quinlan, LMFT! Kimberley is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and public speaker who is the host of Your Anxiety Toolkit podcast, founder of CBT School, and owner of Kimberley Quinlan (A Marriage and Family Therapy Corporation) in Los Angeles, CA.  She is passionate about the treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and related disorders, Eating Disorders and Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, and provides one-on-one treatment and online courses for those who are struggling in these areas. Advocating for those with mental health disorders is also a huge part of her life mission, and she serves as a global advocate for the International OCD Foundation. She is also the founder of CBTSchool, an online psychoeducation platform where she offers support and research-based educational products to those who cannot access correct care. CBTSchool offers low-cost online courses and FREE resources for OCD, anxiety and BFRB’s. She is also the best-selling author of 'The Self-Compassion Workbook for OCD: Lean into Your Fear, Manage Difficult Emotions, and Focus On Recovery' (2021).

In this episode, we discuss the following topics (+ timestamps):

(00:00:00) Introduction of episode & Kimberley Quinlan, LMFT

(00:04:35) How Kimberley became an OCD-specialized therapist

(00:10:39) How Kimberley's lived experience with anxiety, eating disorders, and being a personal trainer led her to becoming a mental health therapist; Being an OCD therapist without having OCD

(00:13:59): All about self-compassion

• The events that led to Kimberley's interest & specialization in self-compassion
• Referenced clinician: Tara Brach
• Operational definition of self-compassion
• What self-compassion is & is not
• How anybody can access self-compassion
• Research on efficacy of self-compassion in treatment
• Role of self-compassion in recovery

(00:30:22) About Kimberley's book: The Self-Compassion Workbook for OCD: Lean into Your Fear, Manage Difficult Emotions, and Focus On Recovery' (2021)

(00:40:57) How Kimberley has made evidence-based OCD treatment education widely accessible through CBT School

(00:47:55) Discussion: does an OCD treatment provider need to have lived experience of OCD to provide the best therapeutic care?

(00:53:39): Kimberley's experience with chronic illness & having a disability

• Her journey to a POTS diagnosis
• How she had to radically change her life & way of operating
• Acceptance of disabilities & limitations
• The lessons she's learned from her chronic illness experience
• Full story on her podcast: episode 124, episode 307
• Recommended book: How To Be Sick by Toni Bernhard

(01:10:20): Navigating boundaries and finding balance in life

• Kimberley's experience with developing boundaries
• How to (attempt to) strike balance amongst incredible busyness
• Fielding judgment and criticism from social media & large-scale public creation
• Kimberley's family and children
• Kimberl