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In this episode of The OCD Confessional, we’re joined by Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” McIngvale — OCD expert, director of the OCD Institute of Texas, former national spokesperson for the International OCD Foundation, and someone who has also live with OCD herself.

Liz shares what it was like to be diagnosed with OCD at a young age, her stay in residential treatment, how severe compulsions and intrusive thoughts took over her life, and how Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) helped her regain control. We talk about the realities of living with OCD, the stigma around intrusive thoughts, and how her personal journey led her to become one of the most respected clinicians and advocates in the OCD community.

We also discuss:

• What OCD really looks like beyond stereotypes
• Why ERP is the gold-standard treatment
• How clinicians can better understand lived experience
• What gives her hope about the future of OCD care

This is a powerful conversation that blends science, empathy, and honesty — for anyone living with OCD, loving someone who does, or working in mental health.

Support the show

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube & everywhere podcasts live.
📲 Instagram & TikTok: @theocdconfessional
📺 YouTube: The OCD Confessional https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LpIFjdtZQ

Supported by NOCD
If you or someone you love is struggling with OCD, check out NOCD — a leading virtual health platform that connects people with licensed therapists specially trained in Evidence-Based ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) therapy. NOCD offers live video sessions, between-session therapist messaging, access to in-app therapeutic tools, and a global peer community. Their goal: make expert OCD treatment accessible, effective, and affordable.

➤ Visit https://learn.nocd.com/ocdconfessional to learn more and get matched with an OCD-trained therapist.

🧠 The OCD Confessional is hosted by Liam Martin & Alicia Hill — real stories, intrusive thoughts, and the tools we use to cope (with plenty of laughter).

Disclaimer: The OCD Confessional is intended for education, awareness, and community support only. It does not provide therapy or professional mental-health advice. If you are struggling or in crisis, please seek help from a licensed mental-health professional. In the U.S., you can call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

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In this powerful and deeply human episode of The OCD Confessional, we sit down with Chrissie Hodges — writer, advocate, and founder of OCD Gamechangers — to talk about some of the most misunderstood parts of living with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Chrissie has been candid about experiencing taboo intrusive thoughts, the kind of thoughts many people with OCD are afraid to speak aloud. In this conversation, we explore:

• Religious scrupulosity
• How OCD takes normal fears and hijacks them
• The impact of silence and stigma around taboo thoughts
• Chrissie's candid conversation about a suicide attempt
• The mission and community of OCD Gamechangers

Whether you’re living with OCD, supporting someone who is, or simply want to understand more, Chrissie’s story is honest, relatable, and full of compassion.

🔗 Connect with Chrissie Hodges:
Website: https://chrissiehodges.com

Blog: https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/breaking-the-silence-on-taboo-intrusive-thoughts-a-conversation-with-chrissie-hodges

🔗 Learn more about OCD Gamechangers:
https://ocdgamechangers.com

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube & everywhere podcasts live.
📲 Instagram & TikTok: @theocdconfessional
📺 YouTube: The OCD Confessional https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LpIFjdtZQ

Supported by NOCD
If you or someone you love is struggling with OCD, check out NOCD — a leading virtual health platform that connects people with licensed therapists specially trained in Evidence-Based ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) therapy. NOCD offers live video sessions, between-session therapist messaging, access to in-app therapeutic tools, and a global peer community. Their goal: make expert OCD treatment accessible, effective, and affordable.

➤ Visit https://learn.nocd.com/ocdconfessional to learn more and get matched with an OCD-trained therapist.

🧠 The OCD Confessional is hosted by Liam Martin & Alicia Hill — real stories, intrusive thoughts, and the tools we use to cope (with plenty of laughter).

Disclaimer: The OCD Confessional is intended for education, awareness, and community support only. It does not provide therapy or professional mental-health advice. If you are struggling or in crisis, please seek help from a licensed mental-health professional. In the U.S., you can call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Send us a text

In this important episode of The OCD Confessional, we sit down with Becky Deusser and Dr. Sanjaya Saxena of the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF) to discuss their newly released white paper on America’s OCD care crisis.

The report highlights a sobering reality: millions of people with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are unable to access timely, evidence-based treatment — even though effective therapies like ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) exist.

We talk about:

• Why access to proper OCD treatment remains so limited
• The systemic barriers facing patients and families
• How misdiagnosis and lack of provider training worsen outcomes
• What parents, clinicians, advocates, and policymakers can do next
• Why awareness alone isn’t enough — and what real change looks like

This conversation is essential listening for anyone living with OCD, supporting someone who does, or working in mental health care.

📄 Read the full IOCDF report:
https://iocdf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Full-Report-Americas-OCD-Care-Crisis-12-9-2025.pdf

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube & everywhere podcasts live.
📲 Instagram & TikTok: @theocdconfessional
📺 YouTube: The OCD Confessional https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LpIFjdtZQ

Supported by NOCD
If you or someone you love is struggling with OCD, check out NOCD — a leading virtual health platform that connects people with licensed therapists specially trained in Evidence-Based ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) therapy. NOCD offers live video sessions, between-session therapist messaging, access to in-app therapeutic tools, and a global peer community. Their goal: make expert OCD treatment accessible, effective, and affordable.

➤ Visit https://learn.nocd.com/ocdconfessional to learn more and get matched with an OCD-trained therapist.

🧠 The OCD Confessional is hosted by Liam Martin & Alicia Hill — real stories, intrusive thoughts, and the tools we use to cope (with plenty of laughter).

Disclaimer: The OCD Confessional is intended for education, awareness, and community support only. It does not provide therapy or professional mental-health advice. If you are struggling or in crisis, please seek help from a licensed mental-health professional. In the U.S., you can call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Send us a text

What is it really like to love someone with OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder)?

In this episode of The OCD Confessional, Liam interviews Alicia and her husband, Spence Hill, about what it’s like to be in a relationship with someone living with OCD. Together, they talk openly about how OCD has shown up in their marriage, the moments that were hardest to navigate, and what’s helped them grow stronger as a couple.

Spence shares what partners often struggle with silently — from knowing when to support vs. step back, to understanding compulsions without reinforcing them, to learning how love and patience evolve alongside treatment and recovery.

This episode is for:
• Partners of people with OCD
• Anyone supporting a loved one with intrusive thoughts
• Couples navigating mental health together

🎙️ The OCD Confessional is about honest conversations, shared experiences, and reminding people they’re not alone.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube & everywhere podcasts live.
📲 Instagram & TikTok: @theocdconfessional
📺 YouTube: The OCD Confessional https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LpIFjdtZQ

Supported by NOCD
If you or someone you love is struggling with OCD, check out NOCD — a leading virtual health platform that connects people with licensed therapists specially trained in Evidence-Based ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) therapy. NOCD offers live video sessions, between-session therapist messaging, access to in-app therapeutic tools, and a global peer community. Their goal: make expert OCD treatment accessible, effective, and affordable.

➤ Visit https://learn.nocd.com/ocdconfessional to learn more and get matched with an OCD-trained therapist.

🧠 The OCD Confessional is hosted by Liam Martin & Alicia Hill — real stories, intrusive thoughts, and the tools we use to cope (with plenty of laughter).

Disclaimer: The OCD Confessional is intended for education, awareness, and community support only. It does not provide therapy or professional mental-health advice. If you are struggling or in crisis, please seek help from a licensed mental-health professional. In the U.S., you can call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Send us a text

Parents have been asking for this episode—so we made it happen.

In this powerful conversation, we talk with Dr. Eli Lebowitz, a Yale psychology professor and creator of SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions), a groundbreaking parent-based treatment for childhood OCD and anxiety.

Instead of focusing on changing a child’s behavior directly, SPACE teaches parents how to stop accommodating OCD while still showing support, love, and care.

We explore:
🧠 How childhood OCD shows up
🚫 What “accommodation” looks like (and why it makes symptoms worse)
💚 How parents can stop accommodating without shaming their child
🔁 How family routines get hijacked by OCD
🛑 Why SPACE reduces symptoms even without the child participating in therapy

If you’re a parent, caregiver, teacher, or someone who loves a child with OCD or anxiety, this episode is packed with tools, hope, and a new way forward.

🎧 New episodes every Tuesday. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube & everywhere podcasts live.
📲 Instagram & TikTok: @theocdconfessional
📺 YouTube: The OCD Confessional https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LpIFjdtZQ

Supported by NOCD
If you or someone you love is struggling with OCD, check out NOCD — a leading virtual health platform that connects people with licensed therapists specially trained in Evidence-Based ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) therapy. NOCD offers live video sessions, between-session therapist messaging, access to in-app therapeutic tools, and a global peer community. Their goal: make expert OCD treatment accessible, effective, and affordable.

➤ Visit https://learn.nocd.com/ocdconfessional to learn more and get matched with an OCD-trained therapist.

🧠 The OCD Confessional is hosted by Liam Martin & Alicia Hill — real stories, intrusive thoughts, and the tools we use to cope (with plenty of laughter).

Disclaimer: The OCD Confessional is intended for education, awareness, and community support only. It does not provide therapy or professional mental-health advice. If you are struggling or in crisis, please seek help from a licensed mental-health professional. In the U.S., you can call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Send us a text

In this powerful episode of The OCD Confessional, we sit down with Duke Al Durham — poet, rapper, spoken-word artist, and mental-health advocate whose story is unlike anything we’ve shared before.

Duke opens up about living with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Type 1 diabetes, the intrusive thoughts that shaped his early life, and the moment he walked in front of a moving car—not out of a desire to die, but because he desperately wanted silence from the mental noise OCD created.

He explains how compulsions, shame, identity, and chronic illness intersected to create a perfect storm, and how creative expression became the thing that pulled him back into himself.

We talk about:
🧠 What OCD looks like inside a mind managing constant intrusive thoughts
🎤 How poetry, rap, and spoken word became his therapy
🩺 The connection between OCD and chronic illness (Diabetes Type 1)
🚨 What overwhelm can look like when OCD becomes unbearable
✨ How Duke found healing through community, creativity, and honesty

This is one of our most honest, raw conversations yet — and it offers hope, understanding, and deep humanity to anyone facing OCD or supporting someone who is.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube & everywhere podcasts live.
📲 Instagram & TikTok: @theocdconfessional
📺 YouTube: The OCD Confessional https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LpIFjdtZQ

Supported by NOCD
If you or someone you love is struggling with OCD, check out NOCD — a leading virtual health platform that connects people with licensed therapists specially trained in Evidence-Based ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) therapy. NOCD offers live video sessions, between-session therapist messaging, access to in-app therapeutic tools, and a global peer community. Their goal: make expert OCD treatment accessible, effective, and affordable.

➤ Visit https://learn.nocd.com/ocdconfessional to learn more and get matched with an OCD-trained therapist.

🧠 The OCD Confessional is hosted by Liam Martin & Alicia Hill — real stories, intrusive thoughts, and the tools we use to cope (with plenty of laughter).

Disclaimer: The OCD Confessional is intended for education, awareness, and community support only. It does not provide therapy or professional mental-health advice. If you are struggling or in crisis, please seek help from a licensed mental-health professional. In the U.S., you can call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Send us a text

In this episode of The OCD Confessional, Liam and Alicia sit down with influencer Alicia Mitas, known for her viral TikTok and Instagram videos about OCD, emetophobia, anxiety, and intrusive thoughts.

Alicia opens up about developing OCD and emetophobia at just 7 years old, how those early symptoms shaped her childhood, friendships, dating life, and even her college dreams. She shares the moment she hit rock bottom, what finally pushed her toward getting help, and how Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) changed the trajectory of her life.

We also dive into how OCD impacts eating, rituals around food, the list of foods she still struggles with, and what recovery looks like for her today.

If you live with OCD, emetophobia, intrusive thoughts, or love someone who does, this episode will make you feel seen, understood, and less alone.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube & everywhere podcasts live.
📲 Instagram & TikTok: @theocdconfessional
📺 YouTube: The OCD Confessional https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LpIFjdtZQ

Supported by NOCD
If you or someone you love is struggling with OCD, check out NOCD — a leading virtual health platform that connects people with licensed therapists specially trained in Evidence-Based ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) therapy. NOCD offers live video sessions, between-session therapist messaging, access to in-app therapeutic tools, and a global peer community. Their goal: make expert OCD treatment accessible, effective, and affordable.

➤ Visit https://learn.nocd.com/ocdconfessional to learn more and get matched with an OCD-trained therapist.

🧠 The OCD Confessional is hosted by Liam Martin & Alicia Hill — real stories, intrusive thoughts, and the tools we use to cope (with plenty of laughter).

Disclaimer: The OCD Confessional is intended for education, awareness, and community support only. It does not provide therapy or professional mental-health advice. If you are struggling or in crisis, please seek help from a licensed mental-health professional. In the U.S., you can call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Send us a text

In this powerful episode of The OCD Confessional, we talk with Lillian Donahue, a broadcast journalist whose battle with severe OCD nearly took her life at just 25 years old.

Lillian shares how her OCD spiraled into constant terror, debilitating intrusive thoughts, and overwhelming compulsions — all while she was working as a full-time TV reporter.

She opens up about:

• What it’s like living with intense OCD
• The moment everything changed
• How she survived
• Her path back to journalism
• What she wishes the world understood about OCD
• The treatment and tools that made recovery possible

This is one of the most honest conversations we’ve ever had on the show — one that proves OCD is not a personality quirk… it’s a serious, treatable medical condition that affects millions.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube & everywhere podcasts live.
📲 Instagram & TikTok: @theocdconfessional
📺 YouTube: The OCD Confessional https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LpIFjdtZQ

Supported by NOCD
If you or someone you love is struggling with OCD, check out NOCD — a leading virtual health platform that connects people with licensed therapists specially trained in Evidence-Based ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) therapy. NOCD offers live video sessions, between-session therapist messaging, access to in-app therapeutic tools, and a global peer community. Their goal: make expert OCD treatment accessible, effective, and affordable.

➤ Visit https://learn.nocd.com/ocdconfessional to learn more and get matched with an OCD-trained therapist.

🧠 The OCD Confessional is hosted by Liam Martin & Alicia Hill — real stories, intrusive thoughts, and the tools we use to cope (with plenty of laughter).

Disclaimer: The OCD Confessional is intended for education, awareness, and community support only. It does not provide therapy or professional mental-health advice. If you are struggling or in crisis, please seek help from a licensed mental-health professional. In the U.S., you can call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.