OCD Family Podcast

Season 4 is HERE! Join the kick off with your host, Nicole Morris, LMFT and Mental Health Correspondent, as we discuss Indiana's first-ever IOCDF OCD Walk sponsored by OCD Midwest. Clinicians, families, and partners united to raise awareness and access to evidence-based treatment. In this season premiere, discover what made this groundbreaking event so powerful and why it matters for the OCD community worldwide. In this episode...

In our final water cooler chat of Season 3, join Nicole as we dive into what real courage looks like for OCD families—facing fears, bearing discomfort, and building resilience through ERP and I-CBT. Whether you’re supporting a loved one or on your own recovery journey, this episode is a heartfelt reminder that every act of bravery counts and that you’re never alone. Join us as we celebrate our community’s strength and look forward ...

Fam, is your child struggling with anxiety or OCD behaviors in the classroom? This Water Cooler Chats episode breaks down the warning signs parents and teachers often miss, plus actionable strategies to help. Drawing from the International OCD Foundation’s latest research, we explore why 1 in 100 youth have OCD, how symptoms can hide for years before diagnosis, and what you can do right now to support your child or students. Whethe...

In this Water Cooler Chat episode, we explore conditions that can mimic or overlap with OCD—but require different approaches. So join Nicole Morris, LMFT and Mental Health Correspondent, as she dives into conditions that look like or trigger OCD-like symptoms, including PANS/PANDAS, Lyme, Bartonella, and eating disorders. We also unpack how severe OCD can resemble psychosis—but isn’t the same. Learn why medical evaluation is key an...

Struggling with intrusive thoughts and desperate to stop them? You’re not alone. Join your host, Nicole Morris, LMFT and Mental Health Correspondent, in this short and powerful episode where we explore why you can’t stop intrusive thoughts — and why that’s actually good news. Learn how response prevention, the heart of Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), empowers people with OCD to break the cycle of compulsions and reclaim the...

Join your host, Nicole Morris, LMFT and Mental Health Correspondent, as she recaps the 30th Annual International OCD Foundation Conference in Chicago with guests Madison Di Silvio and Angela Henry. They share highlights, laughs, dance floor injuries, and deep reflections on lived experience, shame, self-compassion, and growing the OCD treatment community. It's a candid and heartfelt look at what made this year's conference ...

In this 4th of July episode of The OCD Family Podcast, Nicole shares practical strategies for managing OCD during the holidays. She reminds listeners that intrusive thoughts and obsessional doubts don’t take a day off—but we don’t owe OCD anything in return. From respecting your sensory needs to practicing ERP in alignment with your values, the episode encourages flexible, empowered choices. Nicole also touches on I-CBT strategies ...

In this Water Cooler Chat, Nicole dives into two of her favorite worlds—OCD and true crime—to unpack how our brains interpret evidence. Using courtroom logic as a guide, she explores the difference between reasonable inference and inferential confusion, a common thinking trap in OCD. With real-world and courtroom examples, Nicole shows how OCD relies on imagined possibilities, self-doubt, and irrelevant associations—while fact-base...

Do you or your loved one ever worry that you're “faking” your OCD? You’re not alone—and that fear might be OCD itself. In this Water Cooler Chat, Nicole tackles the painful OCD fear: “What if I don’t actually have OCD?” She explains how this doubt is part of the disorder and offers tips for loved ones to support without feeding the cycle. Plus, we recap resources for those without a therapist, including online communities. So j...

In this episode of the Water Cooler Chat series, Nicole offers heartfelt and practical guidance for families supporting a loved one with OCD as they transition to college. Covering six key strategies, the episode emphasizes starting conversations early, building a treatment plan, and planning for a care community. It highlights the importance of life skills practice, appropriate (but not over-accommodated) support, and fostering au...

In this Pride Edition of the Water Cooler Chat series, join Nicole as she explores how justice-based ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) can respectfully and effectively target core fears in OCD—especially within LGBTQIA+ contexts. Three examples are covered: SO-OCD (Sexual Orientation OCD), Relationship OCD, and Moral Scrupulosity tied to queer identity. The episode emphasizes that treatment should honor identity, not erase it,...

In this premiere S3 Water Cooler Chat, Nicole shares three key tips to help families and loved ones navigate a new OCD diagnosis — including how to better understand OCD, validate your person without reinforcing the disorder, and take care of yourself along the way.

Plus, hear updates on the return of weekly chats, a special IOCDF Conference recap coming soon, and a limited-time 15% discount on OCD Training School courses through Ju...

Join your host, Nicole Morris, LMFT and Mental Health Correspondent, for the Season 3 finale with Dr. Sally Winston, PsyD—renowned clinical psychologist and anxiety expert. Join us to unpack bewilderment, the often-overlooked experience of not knowing what’s going on in our minds. We explore how this confusion fuels distress in OCD and anxiety, why information (not reassurance) matters, and how understanding the process can bring r...

Join your host, Nicole Morris, LMFT and Mental Health Correspondent, as she sits down with Aneela Idnani, co-founder of HabitAware and a passionate advocate for the Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior (BFRB) community. Aneela shares her powerful personal journey with trichotillomania (hair pulling), the shame and secrecy she carried for years, and how one moment of vulnerability led to the creation of the Keen bracelet—a groundbreakin...

Join your host, Nicole Morris, LMFT and Mental Health Correspondent, as she welcomes Sindhu BS, MS, PsyD, to the OCD Family Community. Together, we learn more about Sindhu, a trailblazing OCD practitioner based in India, to explore how mental health intersects with culture, tradition, and treatment. Sindhu helps to unpack the challenges of practicing evidence-based therapies like ACT, ERP, and ICBT in a collectivist society, while ...

Join your host, Nicole Morris, LMFT and Mental Health Correspondent, as she welcomes back her old friend, advocate, and researcher, Katie Munday. Join us as we explore how research can better include, reflect, and respect neurodivergent, disabled, and OCD communities. Together, they dive into topics like accessibility, healthcare equity, chronic illness, mental health, and the importance of centering lived experience in research. K...

Join your host, Nicole Morris, LMFT and Mental Health Correspondent as she sits down with Dr. Rebecca Sachs to explore autism through a needs-first, neurodiversity-affirming lens. Together, they unpack myths and misinformation, affirm the value of autistic individuals, and discuss how OCD and autism can intersect. It’s a compassionate conversation grounded in support, not stigma. So join the conversation, because accurate informati...

Join your host, Nicole Morris, LMFT and Mental Health Correspondent, for another Autism Acceptance Month episode. Nicole is joined by her 11-year-old son Jack — an AuDHDer with OCD — to explore how understanding and treating OCD can be made more accessible and fun by using the popular game Among Us. Together, they dive into how OCD acts like the game’s sneaky impostor, and how tools like ERP and I-CBT help “crew members” (aka us) s...