How you can get unstuck from OCD and live the life you’ve always imagined for yourself
Do you have moments like this?
Do you relate to these unwanted thoughts?
I'm afraid of hitting someone in the street if I don't pay attention when driving. I cannot let go of this awful feeling that comes when I don't share everything with some people. If I don't hear from others that I didn't do anything cruel to my kitty, I cannot leave the house. Would I feel love when I die? When this person walked by me, I felt a bad vibe, like something bad may happen to me. Can't wear that color because it has bad energy.
I stepped on a stain that looks like blood, do I need to throw away my shoes? What if I'm racist? I know I'm not, but I keep feeling scared about calling people derogatory names. Does it mean I want to harm myself when I have that image? What if I forget things and I never remember them? I cannot mix good and bad energies. If I feel the edge when walking over the bridge, does it mean that I want jump off it? Am I going to get AIDS? Does this person have good energy?This doesn't feel right. What if someone steals my knowledge? Is there happiness after death? Did I just have images of grabbing this person's private parts? Did I say that? What if I stab my partner? Did I lock the door?
Does this sound familiar?
- Have you ever gotten stuck when facing obsessions, dealing with strong urges to do a compulsion and not knowing what to do?
- Do you feel overwhelmed when hearing that to get unstuck from OCD you have to “face all obsessions”?
- Are you afraid that facing your obsessions will prove that something is wrong, immoral, and unscrupulous with you?
- Is your career affected because of sticky thoughts?
- Have you tried to start a hobby but you discontinue it because of intrusive thoughts?
- Are you worried about being asked to do exposures that are against your values and inconsistent with who you are?
- Have you tried to enjoy a TV show and it gets difficult because of sticky thoughts?
- Are you concerned that your relationships are affected because of doubtful obsessions that are hard to let go?
- Are you afraid that if you do exposure exercises something bad will happen to you or your loved ones?
- Are you taking your obsessions as the absolute truth?
- Is your life restricted?
- Are you living in your head?
- Are you disconnected from what matters to you?
Tackling OCD is not easy
The frontline treatment for OCD and any form of anxiety is called Exposure, and while exposure is an effective, research-based, and well-established approach, it’s also hard work because:
- You have to learn about the different types of exposure exercises
- You have to face all those obsessions that keep you stuck which can feel overwhelming
- You will get stuck with compulsions
- You may get confused not knowing if you are doing a compulsion or if that’s a regular behavior that is not attached to OCD
- You will have to motivate yourself to approach exposure exercises
- You may struggle distinguishing different forms of mental compulsions
- You will worry about not doing exposures right
- You may get frustrated when your brain latches onto other obsessions or compulsions
- You will have to do all those exposure exercises (and a lot more) while juggling other areas of your life – job, school, relationships, health, religion.
- You may feel hopeless and alone
Tackling OCD and anxiety is hard work. It takes a lot of patience, commitment, and willingness. But it’s also genuinely life-changing and it doesn’t need to be robotic, mechanic, or rigid.
There is a way out …
Instead of spending hours in your head holding with white knuckles on to the thought “it’s too much, I can’t handle it” you learn skills to face all those overwhelming obsessions that come with sticky obsessions one-by-one?
And if instead of spending all your energy managing your obsessions, wrestling with those feelings, and dwelling on whether you can handle them or not, you put all that energy into handling those troublesome moments and do the stuff that truly matters to you.
Imagine if you learn to ride the waves of overwhelming fears that come with obsessions without sinking?
I’m not saying that facing your obsessions will be easy peasy, but I’m saying that once you learn ACT & ERP skills to handle any annoying feeling that comes along with intrusive thoughts, you will stop making fear-based decisions.
If there’s one at all, real “secret” it’s that you want to learn skills to live the life you want to live and be the person you want to be while approaching exposures in the service of those personal values without spending a lot of time, energy, and mental efforts on compulsive and avoidant behaviors that keep you stuck.
Instead of thinking of exposures as the end goal, you want to think of exposures as the means towards living a rich, meaningful, and purposeful life.
This is a new way of getting unstuck from OCD!
Introducing ACT beyond OCD
ACT beyond OCD Home Study Program is an 8-week pre-recorded online course – where I’ll teach you Acceptance and Commitment & Exposure skills to get unstuck from OCD and get back into your life so you can connect with others, pursue a career path, entertain a hobby, do the things you like, and have fun.
ACT beyond OCD is based on the workbook I wrote “Living beyond OCD: using Acceptance and Commitment skills for OCD,” after 16 years of delivering treatment for OCD & anxiety, and facilitating an intensive outpatient treatment program in my practice. You can read testimonials of my work here.
Each week you will have a combination of live workshops over zoom, homework assignments, Q&A, and ongoing support to help you learn new skills, reinforce your treatment, and keep up with recovery.
ACT beyond OCD is not a therapy group or a support group and is a pre-recorded class in which you have an opportunity to learn ACT & ERP skills, practice them, connect with others, and troubleshoot obstacles that may come your way.
(*) FOR TEENS: ACT beyond OCD Home Study Program is 6-week pre-recorded program and based on the workbook “ACT Workbook for Teens: Unhook Yourself and Live Life to the Full.
Reviews from previous participants
“ACT Beyond OCD has helped me to better understand OCD and has given me comfort in knowing that others experience the same things that I do on a daily basis. Before this class, I felt so alone, and I am grateful for Dr. Z for opening my eyes to ACT and ERP skills so that I can live my life the way I want to, not controlled by my thoughts.”
“If you have been suffering with OCD for many years with some or not much success this course will be extremely beneficial. Dr. Z sets up the course perfectly to help you do the hard stuff by learning and applying your values first. Dr Z is so knowledgeable and has the expertise to offer the facts about OCD, methods to deal with it (ACT & ERP) to start living a values based life. They are not cold hard facts that are offered but from her unique perspective, one that is ultra compassionate and caring. She truly understands and gets it, and is the expert to help! You feel in very good hands as you do the hard work. She is attentive throughout the course offering her help, quickly getting the the root of your particular “stuckness”. The community aspect of the course is another fantastic facet. There is tremendous support and accountability with the group and life long friends to be made. I feel like I was waiting all my life to meet such a person as Dr. Z. This course was the rocket fuel I needed to start practicing life long skills; it’s like a brain gym for 8 weeks but I will take the knowledge for life.”
Reviews from previous participants
“Dr Z is a caring and dedicated therapist. Her knowledge and approach to treating OCD and anxiety takes the standard approach up several levels. The blending of ACT with ERP has given me a new way of approaching my anxieties, finding my values, and externalizing my worries. It takes hard work, but the application of Dr Z’s principles will truly change your life for the better.”
“ACT beyond OCD has been an incredibly positive and empowering experience. As someone who is in the middle of private therapy (ACT/ERP) this course has been an excellent adjunctive modality. Having the opportunity to practice ACT skills in a supportive group setting has given me extra incentive. Dr. Z. is not only incredibly knowledgeable but she is engaging and compassionate. She has a gift for making ACT skills relatable and accessible. Most of all, ACT beyond OCD helps you get back to living a life that isn’t dictated by OCD. I highly recommend it!”
Who am I?
I’m a psychologist with a doctoral degree and in the last 17 years, I have been providing exposure services to children, teens, and adults who struggle with different forms of fear-based struggles: OCD, phobias, procrastination, worry, perfectionism, panic, and more.
I have been trained in all models on exposure therapy: habituation model, inhibitory learning model, and ACT & ERP. Over the last 17 years, I have been practicing, teaching, and delivering ACT skills applied to specific struggles such as OCD, anxiety, and emotion regulation.
In my practice as a full-time therapist – and I mean it, when I say full-time therapist – I have witnessed first hand all the struggles that come with facing our fears, worries, obsessions, and anxieties. It’s not easy work.
I have seen clients that responded well to traditional models of exposure therapy and I have seen clients that got stuck and felt discouraged about the possibility of getting better. In my work as a clinician, it’s very clear that tackling OCD is hard work and is possible; but when thinking of exposure for all those intrusive thoughts that keep you stuck, one-size doesn’t fit all.
I have delivered ACT & ERP in individual sessions, compact treatments (3-4 times a week), and intensive treatments (15-hrs a week). Over the years I have seen that the combination of ACT & ERP skills is long-lasting life skills, prepare you to face any obsession-related struggles that come your way, help you to develop a new mindset, and offer you a compassionate, research-based, and actionable approach to live the life you want to live.
I’m the author of the following books:
– ACT beyond OCD: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Workbook for adults
– The ACT Workbook for Teens with OCD: Unhook Yourself and Live Life to the Full.
Who is ACT beyond OCD for?
This is a program for anyone who wants to handle OCD and get their life back on track.
ACT beyond OCD will give you the skills you need to tackle those OCD episodes for good.
You have been recently diagnosed with OCD and want to learn about ACT & ERP skills
You want to prepare yourself for exposure therapy
You’re in the middle of treatment and want to augment your skills to tackle obsessions.
You're familiar with ERP but not with ACT, you can augment your ERP work by learning ACT skills
You’re in full recovery from OCD and want to refresh your skills to maintain your progress.
You're already familiar with ACT + ERP and want a refresher.
Who is ACT beyond OCD NOT for?
This online course isn’t for you if …
- You won’t read 2 sections of the workbook Life beyond OCD before the course starts.
- You’re not willing to put in the time and effort to practice the skills.
- You’re looking for a magic bullet that will make OCD go away without putting the required practice to relate differently to your mind, obsessions, and urges to do compulsions.
- You’re hoping to get back into your life with the blink of an eye without putting time, energy, and efforts required to learn and practice ACT & ERP Skills.
- You’re hoping to replace therapy with this online course; this online course is not a replacement for therapy but an addition to it. For some people this online course could help them to prepare for therapy.
- You’re looking for a guaranteed path to stop obsessions from coming or OCD to be away forever. There are no guarantees in the process of tackling OCD. It’s like signing up for a writing course and expecting to have one millions readers per month for your blog. That’s not how it works. There are a huge number of variables that go into ACT & ERP skills being successful when tackling OCD.
I’ll do my best to teach you every ACT & ERP skills that have worked for many of the clients I have worked with, but I cannot guarantee any specific result.
Having said all that, one thing I can guarantee is that if you practice ACT & ERP skills, complete weekly practices, complete reading assignments, and do this for 8 weeks, you will get the benefits of your hard work, learn useful skills, and your connections with others, mindset, and relationship with yourself will change.
My only goal in ACT beyond OCD is to teach you ACT and ERP skills in a way that gets your life back on track and full of vitality, meaning, and presence. It does no good to attempt to help yourself by rushing through skills and becoming exhausted, scatterbrained, and overwhelmed in the process.
What’s unique about ACT beyond OCD?
ACT beyond OCD Home Study Program is an online course and what makes it unique is that:
- It’s a pre-recorded learning experience that you can move at your own pace.
- You have direct engagement with Dr. Z, the instructor, on a weekly basis via the platform.
- You’re part of a rich learning environment that provides you with accountability, feedback, and coaching.
- You’re part of community-based learning that is fully immersed in learning skills to live the life they want to live.
- You troubleshoot obstacles as they come while you’re learning ACT & ERP skills.
- You are basically part of two communities: a community of practice and a community of peers.
The more you put in, the more you’ll get out!
What will you accomplish with ACT beyond OCD?
In ACT beyond OCD:
- You will learn hands-on ACT & ERP skills to stop struggling with OCD, build long-lasting skills to deal with fearful situations, and live with intention.
- You will know how it feels to be in charge of your life, to be the driver of your life, and to be the owner of your decisions.
- You will learn how to handle triggering moments with gentleness, caring, and compassion.
- You will learn to respond to overwhelming urges without sinking into them.
- You will find your own rhythm to tackle those old compulsions and avoidant behaviors.
- You will learn to navigate those behaviors that feed into OCD episodes, find your own cadence to stop them, and maintain a rhythm that is sustainable for you in the long-run.
- You will be prepared to handle any potential downfall that may come your way as you keep living your life.
- You will recognize the difference between living in reactive mode because of obsessions and wise moves.
- You will be prepared to face obsessions, fears, worries, anxieties, not as a one-time thing but as a life-long skill.
- You will learn to get unstuck from OCD episodes as they come your way, your ability to handle obsessions will increase, and you will drop the tug-of-war with your thoughts.
- You will learn skills to handle all types of obsessions you’re dealing with in your life, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
- You will have a full values-based exposure to continue approaching your obsessions, worries, and anxieties as they come your way.
- You will learn a new way of relating to your mind and the work you’re going to be doing when facing values-guided exposures and taking steps toward what makes you tick.
What does ACT beyond OCD include?
- ACT beyond OCD Home Study Program includes weekly pre-recorded sessions: a workshop session and a Q&A session.
- A new frame to relate to your obsessions, your mind, and your life in general.
- Weekly practice of ACT + ERP skills to handle all types of OCD episodes.
- Weekly practice of ACT & ERP skills to deal with obsessions, mess up with compulsions, and do what’s important to you.
Frequently asked questions
Click here to read answers to your questions →
A message from Dr. Z.
Why our clients love learning
ACT + ERP skills to tackle OCD
"I was referred to Patricia Zurita Ona from my daughter's psychiatrist for cognitive behavioral therapy treatment of his obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety which rose to a level that was out of control. Dr. Z is very skilled at working with people who suffer from anxiety, especially related to academic success and test anxiety..."
Obsessions about losing knowledge + decompensating because of distress
Working with Patricia Zurita Ona, Dr. Z. has changed and saved my life. I have struggled off and on for years with a severe anxiety disorder and OCD. I have been to therapy throughout the years and have found some help but nothing really got to the core of the problem.
I often felt crazy and that my incredible fear and my phobias would remain with me through my life, I would not drive on the freeway, eat certain things and had constant catastrophic thinking, thus creating a lot of depression.
Obsessions about harming himself and others
Dr. Patricia Zurita Ona truly cares about her clients. Behavior therapy with her has benefited myself and my wife regarding my obsessive compulsive behavior. She has a gentle and kind approach and I would recommend her to others.
Obsessions about pedophilia, contamination, and causing harm by accident.
We had an amazingly positive and successful experience with Dr. Z and one of her associates. Our daughter had OCD and after intensive exposure therapy last summer, it's virtually gone. A year ago, his behaviors were really taking a toll on our family. It's hard to believe now. The difference is night and day.
Obsessions about contamination & fears of disgust
6- OBSTACLES
YOU DON'T KNOW THAT ARE KEEPING YOU STUCK WITH OCD
AND THAT ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT SKILLS CAN HELP
14-day money back guarantee
Getting you unstuck from fear-based struggles is my #1 goal, and we want this decision to be 100% risk-free so you can focus on learning ACT & Exposure skills. If you decide that the ACT beyond OCD course didn’t deliver on its promise for any reason, just let us know and we’ll refund your full payment, no questions asked.
