Emetophobia, OCD & What Recovery Actually Takes with Lee The OCD Therapist | Episode 18

What does it actually take to recover from OCD and emetophobia?

This week, we're joined by Lee Solomon—aka Lee the OCD Therapist—for a conversation about what keeps the OCD cycle going, what recovery actually looks like, and why sometimes the best thing you can do with fear is stop fighting it.

Lee shares his own story of living with harm OCD, how his experience eventually led him to become an OCD therapist, and what he's learned from helping clients face their biggest fears through Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP).

We talk about:

• Lee's personal OCD story
• Genetics, trauma, panic, and OCD onset
• Postpartum OCD and motherhood
• The four phases of OCD recovery Lee sees in his clients
• What gets in the way of successful treatment
• The relationship between emetophobia and OCD
• How Lee approaches ERP for emetophobia
• Why compulsions and safety behaviors matter so much
• Fight, flight, freeze, and uncomfortable physical sensations
• Acceptance and learning to stop fighting fear
• Non-engagement responses
• Reassurance vs. encouragement
• Whether you can recover while continuing compulsions
• Lapses, relapses, and the fear of going "back to square one"
• Emetophobia when you also have a chronic illness
• Fear hierarchies and building up to difficult exposures
• What to do when you aren't willing to face an exposure
• Whether "white knuckling" an exposure still counts

And, because apparently we can't have an OCD therapist on the podcast without asking the important questions, we also make Lee choose between throwing up in front of his coworkers and pooping his pants at work. 😂

One of our favorite ideas from the conversation:

Your mind doesn't necessarily care what you're thinking—it learns from what you DO in response to what you're thinking.

The thought can be there.
The sensation can be there.
The uncertainty can be there.

You don't have to keep fighting it.

Sometimes recovery looks like learning to say:

"You're right. That could happen. I'm still not going to fix it."

And then continuing with your life.

Because courage isn't the absence of fear.

Courage is doing it afraid.