163. Relationship OCD, Shame, and Recovery: Learning to Live With Uncertainty

163. Relationship OCD, Shame, and Recovery: Learning to Live With Uncertainty

💔Can OCD convince you that you’re incapable of love?

In this episode of The OCD Whisperer Podcast, Kristina Orlova speaks with Zack Tucker, OCD advocate and creator of OCDestigmatize. Together, they explore relationship OCD, health anxiety, shame, and what real recovery actually looks like when OCD never fully disappears—but stops controlling your life.

Zack opens up about:

• Relationship OCD and the fear of “not really loving” partners

• How intrusive thoughts destroyed past relationships and self-esteem

• Promiscuity, avoidance, and using control to cope with emotional pain

• ERP, exposure, and redefining what recovery truly means

• Living with OCD long-term while still building love, confidence, and meaning

Whether you’re navigating OCD yourself or supporting someone who is, this episode offers hope, perspective, and reassurance that you can live fully—even with uncertainty.

📲 About Zack Tucker (guest):

• popular mental health Instagram page owner

• OCD survivor

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ocdestigmatize/

✂️ TIMESTAMPS:

[00:00] – Meet Zach & Why He Started Speaking Publicly About OCD [01:22] – Relationship OCD: Believing You’re Incapable of Love [02:42] – How OCD Destroys Relationships Without Anyone Seeing It [04:22] – Real Doubt vs OCD Doubt: Why Relationship OCD Feels So Convincing [05:57] – The First Breakup That Wasn’t Caused by OCD [08:17] – What Recovery Actually Looks Like (Thoughts Still Exist) [10:12] – From POCD to Health OCD: When Themes Shift but Fear Stays [12:12] – Living With Real Risk: Health OCD, Rabies, and Uncertainty [15:32] – Vietnam as Exposure Therapy: Facing Every Fear at Once [17:42] – Why Recovery Isn’t Cold Turkey (And Why Self-Compassion Matters) [20:07] – Ending Shame by Putting OCD on the Internet [22:02] – What He’d Tell His Younger Self About OCD and Recovery

✅ Free Resources & Links

📲 Stay Connected

📩 Business Inquiries: info@theocdwhisperer.com

✅ About OCD Whisperer

Welcome to OCD Whisperer! Each episode shares tools and insights for OCD recovery, managing intrusive thoughts, ERP therapy, CBT techniques, anxiety relief, and mindfulness practices. Join me for expert interviews and personal insights into overcoming OCD. Subscribe to find support, strategies, and hope for your OCD journey.

⚠️ Disclaimer: Please note while the host is a licensed marriage and family therapist specializing in OCD and anxiety disorders in the state of California, this podcast is for educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for therapy.

🔑 SEO Keywords

relationship OCD OCD recovery intrusive thoughts ERP therapy for OCD health anxiety OCD living with OCD managing OCD long-term OCD and relationships

© OCD Whisperer

Episoder(179)

139. Values-Based Therapy for OCD: The Key to Psychological Flexibility

139. Values-Based Therapy for OCD: The Key to Psychological Flexibility

Living with OCD isn’t just about managing anxiety—it’s about reclaiming your life through your values. In this powerful episode of the OCD Whisperer Podcast, host Kristina Orlova welcomes OCD therapis...

24 Jun 202528min

138. CLINICAL DIRECTOR Reveals: This Is Why You Struggle With Your Self-Image

138. CLINICAL DIRECTOR Reveals: This Is Why You Struggle With Your Self-Image

🧠 Episode Summary: Struggling with feeling ugly, ashamed, or alone? In this episode, Dr. Sony Khemlani-Patel shares insights from 25+ years of treating OCD and Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). Discov...

10 Jun 202524min

137. How a Film Director Used OCD as Fuel: The Story Behind the Film PURE O

137. How a Film Director Used OCD as Fuel: The Story Behind the Film PURE O

🧠 Episode Summary: What if your own mind was the biggest mystery you ever had to solve? In this episode of The OCD Whisperer Podcast, Kristina Orlova sits down with writer and director Dillon Tucker,...

3 Jun 202523min

136. Rebuilding Trust in Yourself: OCD, Identity, and the ICBT Path to Healing

136. Rebuilding Trust in Yourself: OCD, Identity, and the ICBT Path to Healing

Episode Summary: Do you feel trapped in endless loops of “what if”? Like your brain is constantly playing out worst-case scenarios, you can’t prove, but can’t ignore either? In this episode of The OC...

27 Mai 202531min

135. OCD, Alcohol & Memory Loss - How a Friend Saved My Life

135. OCD, Alcohol & Memory Loss - How a Friend Saved My Life

🧠 Episode Summary: In this podcast episode, two close friends delve into a journey of battling OCD, confronting alcohol dependency, and the transformative power of support. They discuss the daily cha...

20 Mai 202524min

134. Why Possibility Isn’t Proof: Trusting Your Senses in OCD Recovery with Michael Parker

134. Why Possibility Isn’t Proof: Trusting Your Senses in OCD Recovery with Michael Parker

You wash your hands… but did you really get them clean? You wiped down the package… but what if something invisible is still there? You tell yourself it’s fine, yet your brain won’t let it go. If that...

29 Apr 202525min

133. OCD or Intuition? How to Spot Real Relationship Red Flags with Ally Kristan

133. OCD or Intuition? How to Spot Real Relationship Red Flags with Ally Kristan

There’s a quiet tension in love when you live with OCD—an unshakable feeling that something’s off, followed by crushing doubt: Is this real, or is it just my disorder? You learn to second-guess yourse...

15 Apr 202534min

132. Cognitive Therapy for OCD

132. Cognitive Therapy for OCD

In this riveting episode of the OCD Whisperer podcast, host Kristina Orlova sits down with Mike Parker, a licensed clinical social worker and the creator of the popular YouTube channel OCD Space.   T...

1 Apr 202531min

Populært innen Helse

fastlegen
rss-gukild-johaug
hvordan-har-du-det-mann
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
psykodrama
leger-om-livet
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
rss-garne-damer
foreldreradet
hormonelle-frida
morten-ramm-lar-kakla-ga-til-du-sovner
hjernesterk
rss-lopedrommen
klimaks
bak-fasaden-en-reise-i-livet-med-sykepleier-ine
g-punktet
treningsprat
helsetipspodden
sinnsyn
level-up-med-anniken-binz