If your intrusive thoughts have ever convinced you that you're secretly dangerous- welcome to Harm OCD. This is the subtype that makes loving, gentle people terrified of their own minds.

This week Jess and Laura dig into one of the most misunderstood and shame-soaked corners of OCD- where caring deeply about not hurting anyone gets twisted into "proof" that you might. Harm OCD can include a fear of harming others, yourself, or a fear that harm will/has come to others because of you- this episode explores it all.

We talk about what these thoughts actually sound like, why "possible" doesn't mean "probable," and why your brain treats a passing thought like a five-alarm fire. We also get into the messier stuff- anger, allergy and poisoning fears, and the compulsions that quietly creep in when you're trying to "just be sure."

Plus: what real exposure work looks like for harm OCD, how to rebuild trust in yourself, and why badly-pitched exposures can do more harm than good.

As always, there's Brain Spam, an Exposure Lab, a listener question, and a bit of social media chaos courtesy of Laura.

Trigger warning: Please note that this episode contains discussions around harm and suicide, so please listen with caution.

Podcast by:

Laura Mole, Adv. Dip, MBACP OCD specialist therapist

and

Jessica Hayes, Msc PGDip, BABCP Accred OCD and perinatal specialist therapist

Edited by Christian Nickson

Time Stamps:

00:34 What we cover today

01:26 Hellos and introductions

02:42 Brain Spam

07:02 What harm OCD thoughts sound like

08:06 Compulsions in harm OCD

08:57 Harm OCD misunderstandings

10:00 What if you experience anger with harm OCD?

11:14 Common harm OCD themes

12:29 Possible vs probable

13:56 The meaning of harm OCD themes

16:10 Why does it feel so real?

18:10 How do we know you won't hurt someone?

19:45 OCD vs actual risk of harm

24:15 Common compulsions for harm OCD

28:44 Allergy and poisoning fears

29:39 What does therapy look like for harm OCD?

33:31 Harm exposures or behavioural experiments

35:07 Trusting yourself again

37:00 How exposures can be pitched wrong

39:00 Building up exposures and behavioural experiments

41:55 Harm OCD summary

43:15 Laura's social media backlash

44:30 Next episode teaser

45:40 Compassionate work and rebuilding your life

47:28 Question from the listeners

49:15 Exposure Lab

53:20 Goodbyes

Get in Touch:

Got intrusive thoughts to share or questions for us:

Email us at ocdcollectiveuk@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok: @justcheckingpod

For our individual OCD pages, you can find Laura on Tiktok and Instagram as @ocdtherapylaura and Jess as @jess_helps_your_ocd

Please check out our privacy policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YJZ4Sdh4OpxjRR9twGY6dOMH9n55Mq6qTqLBxOtN3Fw/edit?usp=sharing

Content Warnings:

We do reference some thoughts that people may find distressing so please listen with caution if this is you, and take a break if you need to.

Disclaimer:

This podcast provides educational content only and is not a substitute for professional mental health support, please contact a mental health professional for advice and support.

What does the latest OCD research actually tell us, and what does it mean for the people living with it and treating it? This week Jess and Laura dig into the key findings from the recent Orchard OCD International Conference, translating the science into something genuinely useful.

They cover a lot of ground: the economic cost of OCD, which brain areas are involved and what that means for treatment, early signs in children, the genetics of OCD, body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs), and what mental health medications are actually targeting (and what questions you should be asking).

Plus: mouse models, psychedelic research, PANDAS, secondary OCD, and what healthy lifestyle factors like sleep, diet, and exercise actually do for OCD symptoms.

Jess also shares her pet peeves from the research (you'll want to hear those), and they round things off with listener questions, Weekly Wins, and an Exposure Lab challenge.

Podcast by:

Laura Mole, Adv. Dip, MBACP OCD specialist therapist

and

Jessica Hayes, Msc PGDip, BABCP Accred OCD and perinatal specialist therapist

Edited by Christian Nickson

Time stamps:

00:00 Overview of the episode

01:00 Introduction and hellos

02:30 Brain Spam

05:30 Superstitions and OCD

08:10 Disclaimer

08:30 OCD's cost on the economy

09:20 Brain areas involved in OCD

10:57 Early detection, OCD signs in children

15:42 Body Focused Repetitive Behaviours: skin picking and hair pulling

19:57 How much OCD runs in families

21:30 What are mental health medications targeting and what types should we ask about?

25:33 Mouse research and implications

29:30 Psychedelic research and an OCD holiday

33:20 Onset ages of OCD and OCD genes

32:20 Secondary OCD and PANDAS

38:40 Healthy living and OCD; sleep, diet and exercise

39:45 How therapy can use this information

48:20 Sleep disorders in OCD

49:11 Neuroplasticity to help OCD

51:00 Jess' pet peeves from the research

53:00 Question from the listeners

53:48 Weekly Wins

54:42 Exposure Lab

55:33 Goodbyes

Get in Touch:

Got intrusive thoughts to share or questions for us:

Email us at ocdcollectiveuk@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok: @justcheckingpod

For our individual OCD pages, you can find Laura on Tiktok and Instagram as @ocdtherapylaura and Jess as @jess_helps_your_ocd

Please check out our privacy policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YJZ4Sdh4OpxjRR9twGY6dOMH9n55Mq6qTqLBxOtN3Fw/edit?usp=sharing

Content Warnings:

We do reference some thoughts that people may find distressing so please listen with caution if this is you, and take a break if you need to.

Disclaimer:

This podcast provides educational content only and is not a substitute for professional mental health support, please contact a mental health professional for advice and support.

For the first time ever, there are international guidelines for how OCD should be treated — and in this episode, we break them down.

Fresh from the Orchard OCD International Conference, Jess and Laura unpack what these landmark guidelines actually say: which treatments are recommended, in what order, and what this means for people with OCD and the clinicians supporting them. From ERP and medication through to TMS and DBS, the guidelines bring global consensus to questions that have long been answered differently depending on where you live or who you see.

Before they get there, they cover what the conference revealed about OCD neuroscience — brain imaging showing OCD as a network problem, gene mapping progress, biomarkers, and what the research says about how psychological treatments work on a neurological level.

There's also a section on OCD in childhood, apps and neuroimaging, and Body Focused Repetitive Behaviours.

This is Part 1 of a series covering the conference — and it's a good one to start with.

As always: Brain Spam, Weekly Wins, and a look at what's coming next.

Podcast by

Laura Mole, Adv. Dip, MBACP OCD specialist therapist

and

Jessica Hayes, Msc PGDip, BABCP Accred OCD and perinatal specialist therapist

Edited by Christian Nickson

Caveat

Before we get started, a quick disclaimer. This episode is intended for educational and informational purposes only. We discuss a range of medical and therapeutic interventions used in OCD treatment, including medication and neuromodulation approaches such as TMS, DBS and tDCS. However, we are not medical doctors or prescribing professionals, and nothing in this episode should be taken as medical advice or a recommendation to pursue any particular treatment.

We also mention some commercially available products and technologies. These references are provided for information only and should not be interpreted as an endorsement or recommendation to purchase or use them.

If you are considering any medical treatment, medication, or intervention discussed in this episode, please consult a suitably qualified healthcare professional who can advise you based on your individual circumstances.

Timestamps:

00:34 Extra disclaimer

02:26 Catch up

02:48 Introduction to the episode

04:00 Brain Spam

08:33 Who are Orchard OCD?

13:25 Takeaways about OCD treatment choice

16:00 OCD treatment and costs

18:34 OCD in childhood and brain changes

20:00 Apps and neuroimaging

20:49 OCD as a brain network problem

22:26 Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) and cognitive therapy work

24:00 Metacognitive Training

24:40 Biomarkers and precision psychiatry

25:30 Body Focused Repetitive Behaviours

27:39 The International Guidelines for OCD Treatment

46:30 How the guidelines can help people with OCD

49:25 How we plan to use the guidelines

52:40 What next?

54:06 Possible next episode themes

56:01 Weekly Wins

58:00 Goodbyes

Links:

Orchard OCD: https://www.orchardocd.org/

Orchard OCD Registry: https://orchardocdregistry.org/

CANMAT/ICOCS International Guidelines for OCD: https://icocs.org/2025-canmat-icocs-international-guidelines-for-the-management-of-patients-with-ocd/

Get in Touch:

Got intrusive thoughts to share or questions for us:

Email us at ocdcollectiveuk@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok: @justcheckingpod

For our individual OCD pages, you can find Laura on Tiktok and Instagram as @ocdtherapylaura and Jess as @jess_helps_your_ocd

Please check out our privacy policy https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YJZ4Sdh4OpxjRR9twGY6dOMH9n55Mq6qTqLBxOtN3Fw/edit?usp=sharing

Content Warnings:

We do reference some thoughts that people may find distressing so please listen with caution if this is you, and take a break if you need to.

Disclaimer:

This podcast provides educational content only and is not a substitute for professional mental health support, please contact a mental health professional for advice and support.