Andrea Lynn Piazza
Free resource
The OCD doubt toolkit
For when your brain won't take "you're fine" for an answer.
If you check, reread, confess, ask "are you sure?" or replay conversations until the anxiety eases for a minute, this is for you. Four pages of practical tools you can start using today.
01Is this a compulsion? A checklist, including the invisible ones
02A one-week reassurance and checking log
03What to say instead: scripts for you and the people you ask
04When to get help, and how to find the right therapist
01 · Is this a compulsion?
Most compulsions happen in your head.
A compulsion is anything you do to get rid of doubt or anxiety, quickly, that you then need to do again. Hand-washing and checking locks are the famous ones. Most people do quieter versions. Tick any you recognize.
Reviewing: replaying a conversation to check what you said
Reassurance: asking "are you mad?" or "was that okay?"
Rereading: checking an email or document again and again
Researching: googling symptoms, taking quizzes, reading threads
Confessing: telling someone a small "wrong" to feel clean again
Neutralizing: a phrase, prayer or image to cancel a bad thought
Comparing: measuring yourself against others to prove you're okay
Avoiding: skipping shows, places or people that trigger the thought
Body checking: scanning for a feeling to prove or disprove something
Over-fixing: apologizing or people-pleasing to make up for a fear
The three-question test
1. Did I do it to get rid of doubt or anxiety?
2. Did the relief fade quickly?
3. Did I need to do it again, or will I?
Three yeses usually means it's working as a compulsion, whatever it looks like from the outside.
02 · The log
Watch the pattern for one week.
Don't try to stop anything yet. Just write it down when it happens. Most people are surprised by how often, and by what the urge does if they wait twenty minutes.
When
The doubt or thought
Urge 0–10
What I did, or resisted
Urge after 20 min
Tue 9pmWas I rude in the meeting?8Waited instead of texting a coworker4
At the end of the week, notice:
Which doubts came up most? What time of day? And when you waited, did the urge go down on its own?
03 · What to say instead
You don't need certainty. You need a pause.
To yourself, when the urge hits
"Maybe. Maybe not. I can live with not knowing for twenty minutes."
"This is the doubt again. It's loud, not true."
"I've checked before and it didn't stay answered. I'm going to let this one sit."
The 20-minute delay
1. Notice the urge and name it: "I want to check / ask / reread."
2. Rate it from 0 to 10.
3. Set a timer for 20 minutes and do something with your hands.
4. Rate it again. If you still need to, you're allowed. Often you won't.
Cut out and give to your partner or a close friend
When I ask for reassurance again, try:
"I love you, and I think that's the worry talking."
"I'm not going to answer that one, but I'm right here."
"What would you tell yourself if I weren't here?"
Answering feels kind, but it feeds the cycle. Staying warm without answering helps more.
04 · When to get help
These tools help. Treatment helps more.
It's worth getting support if
· Compulsions take more than an hour a day, adding up the small ones
· The doubt is straining your relationship or your work
· You've tried to stop on your own and it keeps coming back
· You're avoiding things you used to enjoy
Questions to ask a potential therapist
· Do you use exposure and response prevention (ERP)?
· How do you handle mental compulsions and reassurance-seeking?
· Will you give me structure and options, or follow my lead?
· Do you work with ADHD or trauma alongside OCD?
I'm Andrea. This is the work I do.
I'm a licensed therapist offering ERP and trauma-informed OCD treatment by video in Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York and Washington. I give you structure, options and a straight answer about what I think is going on.
Free 15-minute consult · andrealynnpiazza.com · [email protected]
General information, not a substitute for diagnosis or treatment. In a crisis, call or text 988, or call 911.