I have done INTENSE exposure therapy for severe OCD. And I'm not gonna lie- it was not a pleasant experience. But it's one of those things that when it feels bad, you know it's working. It sucks. But you get better before you feel better. If that makes any sense.

The good thing is that you typically start out with very small exposures. And work up to something like the blood draw. It sounds impossible to do now, but once you've done the prior exposures, it won't seem like such a mountain anymore. I promise.

I'm curious as to whether your therapist had you help her make your exposure "ladder" and if she had you rate your anxiety for each step? Watching two episodes of a hospital TV show sounds like a bit of a long exposure for the first thing. Is it possible to ask her if you could go more slowly? Like 10 minutes without closing your eyes, kind of thing? Normally, in exposure therapy, you do the activity and record an initial anxiety number. And then wait until your anxiety halves. And then you take a short break. And repeat a couple times per day until the fear begins to lessen.

I know it's tough. But stick with it! Exposure therapy really is affective. It sucks and it's hard but it's worth it. Good luck! Feel free to PM me any time