Therapy Was the Last Thing She Wanted — But The Only Thing That Worked

Sabrina Eliano never thought she’d end up in therapy. Raised in a family where mental health wasn’t discussed — and where seeking help was seen as something only “crazy” people did — she carried that belief well into adulthood. Even as she struggled with obsessive thoughts and anxiety that began to take over her life, she convinced herself it wasn’t that bad. But when she found herself on a subway platform, overwhelmed by intrusive thoughts and wishing the train would hit her just to make the noise stop, something finally broke. She realized she had no one left to talk to — and no other option but to try the very thing she had spent her whole life avoiding.

What happened next didn’t just help her cope — it changed her life. Therapy, specifically Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), gave Sabrina the tools to stop fearing her thoughts and start reclaiming control. In this episode, she opens up about the cultural stigma that kept her silent, the physical toll OCD took on her body, and the moment she went from resisting therapy to pursuing a career in it.

0:00 Intro and mental health awareness month
2:55 Meet Sabrina
6:10 Sabrina goes to therapy after resisting it
10:33 Changing career paths because of her therapy experience
12:24 Ruminating on thoughts
15:46 Realizing your experience and thoughts have an explanation
17:39 OCD never gives relief — not even when you give in to it
18:30 Why OCD feels so real
23:33 How cultures and families think about therapy
28:20 Trying ERP without safety behaviors
32:57 Not being asked about mental health during the medical process
35:58 Advice from Sabrina to those struggling with OCD
37:57 Living the life you want to live — not OCD’s life
39:19 Why Sabrina never gave up on therapy
44:21 Sabrina’s takeaway message

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