Mindset | Blog

What shows up in your mind and body when you see these images? Have you ever gone on a white-water rafting excursion in your life? If you are a white-water rafting fan, you probably yearn to go back to turbulent waters and experience the adrenaline rush. If you ask me, this was a once-in a life time experience for my family. None of us wish to ever repeat that event in our lives! As I began to write “Imperfectly Good,” I thought of my rafting experience and my clients who struggle with fears related to their religious and moral anxiety (Scrupulosity OCD). Many of them report, “It is as if I’m drowning on dry land.” So they fight for their lives and do whatever they can to escape the turbulent waters within them. Their frightful e

How often do you avoid or opt out of situations because they cause anxiety, uncertainty, or other unpleasant emotions? Consider what may be on the other side of your fear. “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some

When unpleasant thoughts and feelings show up, it may seem like you don’t have a choice in how to respond, but you do! You can choose the most traveled road (the easy path and compulsive behaviors) or the one less traveled (psychological flexibility) path. The least traveled path will require more work, patience, and effort, AND it will make all the difference!

Rumination is what cows do when they rechew their food (cud) to digest it. They spend about eight hours every day doing it. We humans also ruminate. We can spend minutes, hours and even days rechewing our thoughts, especially during times of distress. If you struggle with OCD, your external and internal experiences (e.g., thoughts, memories, feelings, and sensations) are magnified and more persevering during difficult moments, and rumination can lead you to become stuck in the OCD cycle. The OCD Cycle When you get triggered by anything (internally or externally), you will have an initial thought that evokes the obsessions. You may then feel overwhelmed with difficult internal experiences (e.g., thoughts, feelings, sensatio

We, the clinicians, at Mindset Family Therapy are excited about attending this conference. As in previous years, we will be presenting and facilitating some workshops and discussion groups (see below). Come join us! Workshops: The Struggle is Real–Dropping the Struggle and Moving on with Life Description: You may have heard that the problem isn’t with the content of OCD, but rather the struggle with the content. What does this mean? Come and learn how to drop the struggle with your thoughts and feelings so that you can live a life composed of what matters to you. Hear stories of those who were able to do this and thrive. Learn skills of how to identify the struggle, identify how it doesn’t help, and what can be mo

“Decisions are constantly before us. To make them wisely, courage is needed—the courage to say no, the courage to say yes. Decisions do determine destiny.” –Thomas S. Monson You are most likely familiar with stories of courage in the Old Testament. They can help you remember to utilize your faith while engaging in treatment for mental and emotional health challenges like OCD, severe anxiety, or depression. Courage and Trust Joshua was advised to be strong and of good courage. He trusted the Lord. He was told to take the Israelites across the Jordan River. If you had been one of the priests, how would you have felt if you had been asked to step into the flooding river while carrying the Ark of the Covenant? Would you ha

Allie seemed to enjoy her friends and extracurricular activities. She was a busy teenager but preferred to spend more time engaging in religious behaviors (e.g., praying, singing religious songs, and reading scriptures) than her friends. Allie’s parents had noticed her altruist behavior and dedication and often praised her for it. Allie’s behaviors were driven by her guilt, shame, and uncertainty. The urge to serve others did not seem to satisfy her doubts. Allie and her parents had not realized that her excessive devotion to follow her moral and religious beliefs were actually an indication she was struggling with scrupulosity OCD. “Do I deserve God’s blessings? Am I good enough? Didn’t Jesus say to be as perfect as he is? These

Last October, Madeline Johnson, a video producer for BBC Reel, reached out and asked if she could interview me about Scrupulosity OCD. There isn’t enough awareness about this type of OCD, so I was glad to be a small part of this excellent BBC Reel presentation: Scrupulosity: The obsessive fear of not being good enough. Many individuals throughout the world often ask themselves in confusion, “Why are my faith and moral values causing me so much pain and suffering?” Eventually, through friends, relatives, or internet searches, they find out that their anxiety related to their faith and moral values actually has a name: scrupulosity obsessive-compulsive disorder. They feel great relief that there is actually a name for their anx

“Additional tutoring and suffering appears to be the pattern for the Lord’s most apt pupils. Our existence, therefore, is a continuum matched by God’s stretching curriculum.” Neal A. Maxwell1 Society’s Influence Our society has come up with some amazing antidotes to unhappiness, and we can sometimes conclude that we are not supposed to suffer. We can then easily forget our spiritual “why.” Even though we read and hear talks from our prophets and leaders, our minds get stuck with the idea that “I’m supposed to be happy all the time.” “There must be something wrong with me if I’m not happy.” Finding the emotional cure seems to elude us all when we seek it even more. Sometimes we begin to focus on anything that will provi

At one time or another, all of us will experience pain that may linger –physical, financial, emotional, or mental. Is it fair? We know the answer. The problem is that when we are in the middle of turbulent waters we usually forget “the why.” The Why Before coming to earth, we were most likely excited about the journey. We were ready for the adventure. We were given the opportunity to choose. One third of our fellow spirits chose otherwise (Job 38:7, Isaiah 14:13, Luke 10:18, D&C 29:36). Satan presented his plan and Heavenly Father did not agree as it would be pointless to follow it. (Moses 4:1) Jesus Christ knew what was needed, and so the rest of us agreed to experience whatever mortal life would offer, in order to learn