Effective Online Course for Intrusive Thoughts
If you're looking for how to get rid of intrusive thoughts, a good course won't teach you to make them disappear. It teaches you how to stop letting them decide what you do.
By Nathan Peterson, LCSW, OCD therapistUnderstand Intrusive Thoughts Before Starting an Online Course
Intrusive thoughts are unwanted thoughts, images, or urges that pop into your head. They're often about the things you care about most, like hurting someone, doing something wrong, or losing control. Almost everyone has them. With OCD, they get stuck because your brain treats them as a warning.
The thought itself isn't the problem. The problem is what you do next: checking, reviewing, asking for reassurance, or avoiding things. Those are what keep the thought coming back. More on this in how to stop intrusive thoughts.
Practical Skills You'll Learn in a Course for Intrusive Thoughts
Acknowledge the thought
Name it and let it stay. "There's the thought about the knife." You don't need to figure out where it came from or what it means.
Skip the ritual
Notice the urge to check, review, or get reassurance, and don't do it, or do it less. This is the part that changes things over time.
Face it on purpose
Pick something the thought makes you avoid and do it anyway, starting small. That's ERP.
Talk to someone, carefully
Telling someone you trust is fine. Asking them over and over whether the thought means something turns into reassurance seeking, which feeds OCD.
I know, "let the thought stay" sounds like giving up. It's the opposite. You're refusing to keep fighting a fight OCD set up for you to lose.
Identify the Triggers for Your Intrusive Thoughts
A trigger might be a place, a person, a time of day, or a mood, like feeling tired or stressed. Keep a simple list for a week.
The point isn't to avoid those triggers. It's to know where to practice. Each trigger on your list is a spot where you can let the thought show up and skip the ritual.
Practice Mindfulness with Guidance from an Online Course
Mindfulness can help you notice a thought without jumping in to fix it. You let it be there and keep doing what you were doing.
- It helps when you let the thought stay and go back to what you were doing.
- It backfires when you use it to push the thought out or calm down every time.
- If breathing exercises start to feel required before you can move on, they've become a ritual.
Next time the thought shows up, say "there it is" and skip one ritual. Then keep going with your day.
Common questions about intrusive thoughts courses
Can an online course get rid of intrusive thoughts?
No course can promise the thoughts will stop showing up. What a good course teaches is how to respond so they stop running your day. The thoughts usually show up less and matter less once you stop fighting them.
What should an online course for intrusive thoughts teach?
ERP, the main treatment for OCD. That means practicing facing the thoughts on purpose and skipping the rituals, including mental ones like checking, reviewing, and seeking reassurance.
Is a course enough, or do I need a therapist?
Some people do well with a course alone. Others use a course alongside a therapist who specializes in OCD. If the thoughts are taking over most of your day, a therapist is worth adding.
Do mindfulness exercises help with intrusive thoughts?
They can help you notice a thought without reacting. They backfire if you use them to push the thought away or to calm down every time it shows up. Then they become another ritual.
