CBT has worked wonders for me in helping with my severe OCD/perfectionism thing. i had tried it with a few other therapists before and it was hopeless, but i think last year my depression had lifted enough for me to feel motivated and in control enough to tackle the OCD thing head on.

as you know, CBT should be about BOTH cognitions and behaviour. for me the cognitive work consisted primarily of building up (and maintaining) motivation to keep combatting the perfectionism thing; looking at how my compulsions were doing nothing to help prevent the anxious outcomes i anticipated etc. the behaviour modification (exposures) involved having to stop my compulsions; austin-t helped me by giving me phrases to repeat to myself instead and for the most part i did attempt the homework we agreed on. e.g., i compulsively write out things multiple times so instead of stopping it altogether, i would try to at least reduce the number of times i did it.

a huge part of my treatment involved building up enough belief in my self efficacy to achieve what i wanted without the crutch of my compulsions to get me there. i still want perfection, just without the anxiety . and after a little taste of success, it gave me more motivation to keep trying.

it's an ongoing struggle, and some times are worse than others, but if i keep practising when i'm not stressed then it's not so habitual when i am in stress-situations (like exams!). i focussed on it solely between april-november last year; and i feel good enough about my ability to manage the OCD/perfectionism on my own that i'm dealing with other stuff this year instead. i may still require 'touch ups' and may well need to dedicate another few sessions here and there to maintaining what i've learnt, but i do believe it'd be a waste of my time to continue therapy solely for the purpose of managing the OCD.

i think the big difference between CBT last year vs all the other therapists i've seen is that my therapist has OCPD himself, so our relationship was very strong. with some of my previous therapists i've felt very ashamed to even admitting what some of my compulsions are but so often with Austin-T it became a game of one-upping each other so we could laugh about it instead. and it's helped me see that if he can manage it and a be a (ridiculously successful) therapist, then i can do the same too.