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About Your Co-Hosts

Lauren Rosen, LMFT, and Kelley Franke, LMFT, are OCD Specialists living with OCD. They also happen to be best friends. You can join Kelley and Lauren during their weekly podcast to learn about the ins and outs of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) treatment from their perspectives as Therapists. When you tune in, you’ll also hear about their lived experience with obsessions and compulsions individually and as supports to one another.
Live participation is welcomed weekly on Instagram Live. Join Kelley and Lauren as they cover all things Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, one subtype at a time. One thing’s for sure: they bring a little humor and a lot of heart to the realm of recovery.

Episode 68: Harm OCD, Part III
This week on the Purely OCD Podcast, OCD Specialists Lauren Rosen, LMFT, and Kelley Franke, LMFT, wrap up their discussion on Harm OCD with a discussion about exposure and response prevention with this subtype.

Episode 67: Harm OCD, Part II
This week on the Purely OCD Podcast, Lauren Rosen, LMFT, and Kelley Franke, LMFT, continue their discussion on Harm OCD, with a focus on compulsions. To start, Lauren and Kelley discuss mental compulsions – like mental review and rumination. Next, they cover overt compulsions – like physical tapping and folding your arms to make sure you don’t accidentally shove someone off a ledge. Following this, the cover avoidance – which can look like anything from avoiding cooking to avoiding holding your child. Next, they consider reassurance seeking in this subtype and how compulsive confession can look. Lastly, they discuss why compulsions are a problem – generally and specifically within the examples given.

Episode 66: With Special Guest Shaun Flores
On this episode of Purely OCD Lauren Rosen, LMFT, and Kelley Franke, LMFT, are joined with a special guest Shaun Flores who is a mental health advocate who shares with us his journey with OCD. Shaun has made it his mission to spread awareness about OCD. You can find more of Shaun @theshaunflores and check out his incredible TEDx talks he gave on multiculturalism and masculinity. What an honor to have him on as our guest today.

Episode 65: With Special Guest Dr. Patrick McGrath
This week on the Purely OCD Podcast, Lauren Rosen, LMFT, and Kelley Franke, LMFT, are joined by Dr. Patrick McGrath. Dr. McGrath is the Chief Clinical Officer at NOCD. He is also the former Director of the Center for Anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD) and the Co-Director of the School Anxiety and School Refusal Program at AMITA Health Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. He offers a wealth of insight and knowledge. We hope you enjoy learning from him.

Episode 64: Harm OCD, Part I
In this week’s episode of the podcast, OCD specialists Lauren Rosen, LMFT, and Kelley Franke, LMFT, talk about Harm OCD. Specifically, the two focus on obsessions related to harming others or being harmed by others. They discuss the myriad ways in which people can find themselves navigating uncertainty in this realm. Next week, the two will be joined by special guest Dr. Patrick McGrath, and the following they’ll return to discuss part II of Harm OCD: Compulsions.

Episode 63: Confessing as Compulsion
On this week’s episode of Purely OCD, Kelley and Lauren discuss sneaky reassurance seeking in the form of confession. First they discuss how to tell if it’s becoming a problem. Next they consider how it can show up with different themes including Relationship OCD, Sexual Orientation OCD, Religious Scrupulosity and Moral Scrupulosity. Lastly, they briefly touch on how to deal with the anxiety that arises as a result of choosing to refrain from confessing compulsively. Join them as they record live next Monday on Youtube at 12:30 PM PT.

Episode 62: Getting Support without Compulsing
This week on the podcast, OCD Specialists Lauren Rosen, LMFT, and Kelley Franke, LMFT, discuss how to get support from a loved one without it becoming compulsive. To start, they cover the reasons why asking for reassurance can be so problematic. Next, they discuss the “how” of asking for support without seeking reassurance. In addition, they talk about the importance of taking care of your support system, as compulsive reassurance often puts a tremendous strain on relationships. They also consider the importance of knowing who to disclose information to and set the record straight about reassurance (not all reassurance is bad)! Lastly, they cover types of language to use for those who are in the supporter role.

Episode 61: Exposure and Response Prevention
On today’s episode of the Purely OCD podcast, OCD Specialists Lauren Rosen, LMFT, and Kelley Franke, LMFT, talk about Exposure and Response Prevention in the treatment of OCD. They discuss different types of exposures and how to practice not engaging in compulsions (or response prevention). You can check out prior podcast episodes to learn more about specific types of compulsions and how exposure and response prevention can be applied with different OCD subtypes.

Episode 60: Overt Compulsions
In today’s episode Purely OCD, Lauren Rosen, LMFT, and Kelley Franke, LMFT, talk about different types of overt, or observable, compulsions that commonly present in OCD. They also briefly cover ways you can combat compulsions in the face of fear. Check out Purely OCD’s new Instagram, Tik Tok and Twitter Accounts.

Episode 59: Perfectionism and OCD
In today’s episode, OCD specialists Kelley Franke, LMFT, and Lauren Rosen, LMFT talk about perfectionism in OCD. They talk about how perfection can be such an alluring idea this time of year, but how it can also rob us of our present moment experiences. We hope you embrace the entirety of your experience, warts, intrusive thoughts and all this holiday season.
Check out our new Instagram page, @purely_ocd, where we will be sharing more come 2023.

Episode 58: Optimism in OCD Recovery
This week on purely OCD podcast, Lauren and Kelley discuss how to maintain optimism in your recovery. They start the conversation by setting realistic expectations for what recovery looks like. They then discuss how to use self-compassion, cognitive restructuring and mindfulness as a way to support optimism. Lastly, they discuss values and how they can help you realign with you to your path of recovery and how empowerment can breed a sense of optimism.

Episode 57: Real OCD
Today on the Purely OCD podcast, in honor of ocd awareness week, Kelley Franke, LMFT, and Lauren Rosen, LMFT, discuss their own journeys with OCD. But first- they discuss the first national campaign promoting OCD Awareness, directed by Ethan Smith and featuring a whole slew of advocates including Rev. Katie O’Dunne, Sean Shinnock, Tia Wilson, Uma Chatterjee and Kelley Franke herself. As a part of the awareness campaign, Biohaven also asked a number of advocates to share their stories. You can find both Kelley and Lauren’s on Biohaven’s website: https://ocdtrials.com/what-if/.
In the episode, Kelley talks about her experience with separation anxiety as a child and how it morphed over the years into Harm OCD. Lauren shares about her early years with Existential OCD and how Moral Scrupulosity finally got her a diagnosis and correct treatment.
Please note: Kelley and Lauren do not endorse any medication in their capacity as psychotherapists or advocates. If you are interested in medication, you should speak with your physician. That said, Kelley and Lauren support the research being done and are all about helping to spread the word about what real OCD is and are so grateful to be a part of this campaign to promote awareness 🤍☺️
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Disclaimer: This information is meant to be general information not unique to any individual. Before following any guidance or advice found on this site or in the Purely OCD Podcast a visitor or listener should always consult with their own licensed healthcare practitioner. The Purely OCD Podcast and Website are not therapy or intended as a replacement for therapy. They are for educational purposes only.