ReImagine Therapy

ReImagine Therapy I'm Jessics Hayes and my company is ReImagine Therapy, where I provide Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Free 15 minute phone consultation before any assessment appointment to make sure I can help with what you're looking for support with.

03/02/2026

pOCD exposure idea- for anyone avoiding watching things that could have children or teenagers in because of their intrisive thoughts.

This one is in the comfort in your own home- or at a friend's house.

It is all about focusing on watching things that you actually like the sound of, and acting as if it doesn't matter if children or babies appear in the story (spoiler alert: it is because it doesn't matter if they do, no matter what your thoughts say).

Note the extra compulsions that might sneak in, especially honing in on physiological symptoms or analysing thoughts or attention. If you cam, notice when you are starting to do this and refocus on the actual show.

We are sending a few messages here.

1: Your intrusive thoughts, images, feelings or urges have no bearing on what you should actually do or the person you are, so we need to live life as if this is true.

2: We show that you are able to cope with this discomfort, and that it gets easier the more you do it.

3: That we are doing things according to values, likes and interests, NOT what fear and OCD try to dictate. You like the sound of a film? Watch it!

Let me know what film or show you pick if you give this a go, and you can do this in a graded way if you have a certain age group that is the biggest trigger or by working your way up to it being a main character in it that is the big trigger.

Save and comment when you have managed it ❤️

03/02/2026

If you have health anxiety, this explanation is for you.

This is what we are aiming for when it comes to behaviours and exposures for health anxiety.

Also to note, you can still struggle with health anxiety, and still be able to work on this, if you have a genuine medical condition too.

Does this fit with you?

30/01/2026

Do you know one of the main things that keeps OCD in control of you?

The belief that your thoughts are meaningful.

I dont care how scary, disturbing, taboo, or ridiculous your intrusive thoughts are. I don't care if you also experience urges and physiological sensations along with those urges, or if you aren't sure what your intentions were. I don't even care if you get a memory from your past of what you may have done that you feel shame about.

These things don't tell me who you are, and I bet you are a good person who just gets really horrible thoughts.

So, if you can, stop trying to analyse those thoughts. Stop reading into them to find meaning. Focus on aligning your behaviours with how you want to live your life and with what you value.

Save this video to remind yourself when the thoughts feel overwhelming.

30/01/2026

Here is an exposure for anyone who has number-based compulsions.

You can do this in a couple of ways- you can start by closing your eyes until the volume is no longer displayed to have to sit with the uncertainty of not knowing which it is on.

Or you can look after deciding based on sound and not allowing yourself to change it if it is on the 'wrong' one.

It depends on what feels like the right challenge for you.

This is a simple exposure and I would advise using it always once you start, any time you listen to anything.

Because we know that consistency is what helps ease that fight-or-flight association.

This is great for a few reasons-

It means sitting with uncertainty.

It includes having to habituate to the anxiety it brings to help with that fight-or-flight response.

It can be an experiment to show your brain that nothing bad consistently happens when you have the volume on different numbers- the more you do it, the harder it is for your brain to link the volume number to coincidental things going slightly wrong in the day.

It also shows your brain that thr important thing isn't the number, it is the fact that the sound is where you want it to be.

Can you give this a try and comment when you've done it?

30/01/2026

Follow me and keep your eyes peeled for the first episode of our amazing new OCD podcast.

Get to know me, and in our first episode as we talk all things OCD.

In preparation for filming of the second episode, we would love to hear what you would like us to discuss. Are there certain themes, ways of working with OCD, common myths you want to be debunked? Drop a comment or a dm as we want to make these episodes for you 💗

29/01/2026

How is your morning going?

Anyone else had any fails today?

At least it will mean I need to expose myself to the uncertainty that I got all of the glass to keep my kids and dog safe, right?

28/01/2026

pOCD can be a terrifying theme. If you are isolating yourself as a result of these intrusive thoughts about children, this exposure is for you.

Pick a couple of local outdoor parks and places to walk that have things nearby that will likely have families around.

Get into a routine of walking around them each day.

This achieves a few things:

It sends your message to your OCD that you are safe around children.

It shows you that you deserve to look after yourself and be around others.

It can lift your mood by getting you moving and outside of your home, where you may be constantly ruminating.

Looking around and potentially listening so some music or a podcast can give your brain some actual stimulation, so it has things other than your intrusive thoughts to think about.

Key bits to remember: You are not a bad person, your thoughts are not a reflection on your values. Don't let sneaky compulsions creep in, such as checking for physiological responses or thoughts, or timing the walks to avoid children, or by monitoring and directing where you are looking.

Get curious, people watch and make up stories in your head of who they might be. Show your brain that observations are safe and normal, and that noticing any people is natural.

Give it a try and show me the lovely areas you get to walk in the comments. You can do this ❤️

28/01/2026

How do you help a loved one with OCD?

Firstly, an acknowledgement that you haven't done anything wrong by not following these tips yet- your job is to support them however you can, and you have done your best to try and help them so far.

Make sure you don't make changes without a discussion with them- I get a lot of people withdrawing reassurance without planning this and making sure their loved one feels able to cope with this straight away.

Next, look into OCD- how it works, what your loved one might be experiencing. Uderstand why they are doing certain things and how they are feeling. They might feel comfortable with you even attending a therapy session with them to hear how their individual OCD works, or have some videos that resonate they they want you to listen to.

Try to support them by (when they agree) highlighting when they are coming to you for reassurance and notice their emotion so they focus on regulating themself instead of trying to figure out the intrusion- 'you seem anxious and are asking for reassurance but you asked me to point this out and remind you to go and do some of the things you agreed with your therapist instead, would you like me to come and help you with those'. So, offering support with the emotions without giving reassurance if they feel ready for it.

if they haven't felt able to, offer to delay the reasureance and give it to them when they have tried to do something else first.

OCD thrives in low self-esteem and in doubt. Help them to notice, and encourage them to share, when they have challenged something or made some progress, to help them to notice this.

Don't ask them what the thoughts are- we are working towards the thoughts feeling unimportant and away from trying to fix thoughts and emotions.

Regulate your own emotions and create your own boundaries- supporting someone with OCD can be hard, especially if you feature in the themes. Getting your own support and knowing how to look after yourself and what you are willing to do vs what is going to have a big impact on your own emotions is really key- you are a team.

27/01/2026

No matter how you feel or how loud that OCD is, try to do at least one little thing today to show your OCD that you are in charge.

26/01/2026

Contamination OCD exposure idea.

This one might feel far away from what you can manage right now. If so, just save the video for now and watch it if that causes anxiety for you as an exposure for right now.

I have done this many times over the years and my rule is that I eat it if it doesn't have stuff on it when I pick it up (sensory grimness otherwise), reiterating the 'it is clean enough unless I see visible dirt' thing we are working on for lots of contamination exposures.

How uncomfortable does it feel to watch me do this, or to consider trying it yourself?

26/01/2026

Have you tried CBT for OCD and found it unhelpful? Or heard that CBT can make OCD worse? Listen to this.

CBT is a huge modality with many different ways of working with lots of different difficulties.

Exposure and Response Prevention (erp) is a CBT approach. As is engaging with the thoughts.

We know that arguing with OCD thoughts can make OCD worse, but it is something that can be used in CBT for other difficulties quite successfully.

So the problem is often that it has been the wring approach for the person, and also that the therapist has either not realised it is an OCD approach they need, or have not understood enough about OCD to know which approaches can help.

I fully believe that people can respond to different approaches, but that CBT is a very useful approach for a lot of people, if the therapist is knowledgeable about OCD and picks the right approach for that person.

Just like needing to adapt CBT for neurodivergent people, we have to be more careful about which approach we ise for OCD.

Some different CBT approaches for OCD that all have a good evidence base for being helpful are: erp, Cognitive therapy for OCD, and inference-based CBT for OCD.

So if CBT isn't feeling helpful, first check your therapist is experienced in OCD, then ask to change approaches within CBT if you would like to try a different approach.

If CBT approaches don't feel like a good fit, sometimes things like EMDR and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can also be used, or added to a CBT approach.

What have you found helped your OCD in therapy. and what made it worse?

24/01/2026

Someone asked me to expand on the post yesterday about asking yourself which interpretation your action matches.

I referred to it as Theory A, Theory B. Theory A is what your OCD interprets your thoughts as, because we know that part of what maintains OCD is interpreting intrisive thoughts (or images or impulses) differently than someone without OCD.

Theory B is the new interpretation that we are trying to show your brain is the most likely interpretation.

Compulsions and avoidance are the behaviours that stem from what your OCD believes to be true. They also reinforce the OCD. To be able to start feeling like the second option is likely to be true, we need to act like it is true. This is where exposures can fit in- changing the behaviours that reinforces your OCD.

The video shows a little example of what the two interpretations can sound like. It might be a little hard to grasp without working on this on therapy, but is something your therapist might be able to help you to work out about your own OCD.

So in the example, if I was avoiding my child, ruminating over my thoughts, Googling 'do these thoughts make me a bad person' and memory checking every interation for sings i have harmed them, which Theory am I reinforcing? If I started to interact with my child as normal, stop Googling, and doing things i value with them, which Theory will feel more true?

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