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Every practice in the library, in one list. Narrow it by how long you have, who it is written for, and where you are right now.
If stopping the ritual is out of reach for now, do it differently every time. Different order, different hand, different room, as long as it is never the same twice.
Compulsions take a lot of their grip from exactness, and disturbing the shape loosens that grip while you are still allowed to do the thing. It also…
Offer choices rather than instructions. With a problem that runs on control, being told what to do gives that control somewhere to dig in.
Two or three real options, the trade-offs said plainly, and then the pick is genuinely theirs. That holds for the big decisions too, like moving to a…
When obsessions start early and dig in deep, ask gently what anxiety looks like elsewhere in the family. Often there is an undiagnosed parent, and often that parent is helping in ways that keep the whole thing running.
None of this is about blame. A parent who checks the locks for their child, answers the same question fifteen times, or arranges the evening around a…
If the urge to arrange has to go somewhere, point it at something that can actually be finished. A kitchen drawer ends. A desk you keep re-sorting never does.
The ending is the part that matters. Finishing leaves you with something real to have done, which competes with the small relief that compulsive…
If this has been going on for years, medication is often part of what helps, and it usually needs a longer run at it than people expect. Starting low and building up slowly is the normal way of doing it.
Looking for a whole subject rather than a single practice? Start from the nine areas.
The slow build is there to keep side effects bearable through the first few weeks, which is where most people quietly give up. It helps to agree with…