I am Nicole Morris, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and Mental Health Correspondent. I am here to create a community of support for family members, spouses, partners, parents, adult children (as there may be “adult” words) and chosen family of OCD Sufferers and their community.

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The Lindsay Clancy case has sparked intense conversations about postpartum mental health—and for many people with OCD, those conversations can be terrifying.In this special Water Trough Chat, Nicole welcomes back OCD specialist Gina Abbondante, LCSW, who brings nearly 20 years of maternal mental health experience. Together, they explore perinatal OCD versus postpartum psychosis, intrusive thoughts, psychosis, hormonal influences, and why this case has created so much fear and confusion within the OCD community.They also discuss the polarization surrounding the case and what happens when we try to force an incredibly complicated tragedy into black-and-white explanations.Content Warning: Includes discussion of child death, filicide, suicide attempts, intrusive harm thoughts, psychosis, and severe perinatal mental illness.

S4E167: Water Trough Chat: Why The Lindsay Clancy Case Feels Terrifying for People With OCD

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In this Water Cooler Chat, Nicole is joined by her Seattle roomies and fellow OCD specialists Amanda Petrik-Gardner and Angela Henry to recap the 31st Annual IOCDF Conference.The trio talks conference highlights, including expanded conversations around OCPD and PANS/PANDAS, the inaugural in-person I-CBT Special Interest Group meeting, evolving evidence-based treatment options, and why bringing clinicians, researchers, families, supporters, and people with lived experience together matters so much.And because this is the OCD Family Podcast, there are plenty of roommate shenanigans along the way—including one very unexpected, exposure-filled barefoot walk through the streets of Seattle.Come for the OCD education, stay for the dirty feet.

S4E166: Water Cooler Chat: Barefoot In Seattle: The 31st IOCDF Conference Recap

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CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses suicidal ideation, self-harm, suicide risk, and psychiatric hospitalization. Please listen with care. This podcast is educational and is NOT crisis management, therapy, or individualized treatment.In this Water Cooler Chat, Nicole explores a question many people are afraid to ask: Will being honest with my therapist about suicidal thoughts automatically get me hospitalized?Nicole breaks down why suicidal ideation isn’t one-size-fits-all, including passive versus active thoughts, intent, plan, access to means, protective factors, and acute versus chronic risk. She also explains why disclosure does not automatically mean hospitalization—and why not having a specific plan doesn’t automatically mean someone is safe or cannot be hospitalized. Risk assessment requires context, clinical judgment, and the whole clinical picture.For the OCD community, Nicole also discusses the important distinction between unwanted intrusive thoughts about suicide or self-harm and suicidal desire or intent, while emphasizing that these experiences require individualized assessment by a qualified clinician.If you or someone you love may act on thoughts of suicide, cannot stay safe, or is experiencing an immediate mental health crisis, please seek professional help now. In the U.S., call or text 988, go to the nearest emergency department, or contact emergency services for immediate help. Outside the U.S., contact your country’s emergency or crisis services.

S4E165: Water Cooler Chat: Will Being Honest With My Therapist Get Me Hospitalized?

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In this Water Cooler Chat, Nicole breaks down what it actually means to receive a mental health diagnosis—and why it’s about much more than checking boxes or assigning a billing code.Using the Lindsay Clancy case as a backdrop, Nicole explores the DSM, ICD, differential diagnosis, and her three-legged stool of diagnostic criteria, the overall clinical picture, and clinical judgment. She also discusses why diagnoses can evolve as new information emerges and why one symptom—or one code—can never tell the whole story.The takeaway: The DSM and ICD give clinicians a shared language, but the person is always bigger than the diagnosis.

S4E164: Water Cooler Chat: DSM, ICD & WTF: How Diagnoses Actually Works

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In this Water Cooler Chat, Nicole tackles one of the more judgmental questions that can emerge after a mental health tragedy: “Why didn’t the family do something?”Using the broader conversation surrounding the Lindsay Clancy case, Nicole explores the important role families can play in mental health treatment—from noticing changes and communicating concerns to using Releases of Information (ROIs) and advocating for coordinated care. But loving someone doesn’t make you their therapist, psychiatrist, or risk assessor.For the OCD Family community, there’s an especially meaningful takeaway: we can influence, advocate, support, and show up without having absolute control over another person or the outcome.

S4E163: Water Cooler Chat: “Why Didn’t the Family Do Something?” — The Role of Family in Mental Health Treatment

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In this Water Cooler Chat, Nicole continues unpacking the broader mental health conversations surrounding the Lindsay Clancy case—this time examining psychiatric medications and the conclusions we draw from a medication list.From her perspective as a licensed therapist, Nicole explores risk-benefit decisions, correlation versus causation, side effects, communication between providers, and the important role therapists and families can play in coordinated care. Most importantly, she challenges the temptation to use hindsight to turn a list of medications into an explanation for a complex clinical outcome.The takeaway: A medication list is important data—but it isn’t a case formulation, and sometimes the most responsible answer is, “We don’t have enough information to know.”This episode is educational and is not medical advice. Medication decisions should be made with a qualified prescribing professional.

S4E162: Water Cooler Chat: When A Medication List Becomes Exhibit A

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The Lindsay Clancy trial has ignited intense conversation—and plenty of confusion—around maternal mental health and the meaning of “intrusive thoughts.” In this Water Cooler Chat, Nicole Morris, LMFT examines why clinical language matters, particularly when distinguishing postpartum OCD, postpartum depression, bipolar disorder, and postpartum psychosis. We’ll also unpack an especially important reminder for anyone frightened by their own mind: an intrusive thought is not the same as desire, intent, action, or psychosis. Disclaimer: This episode is educational and is not intended to diagnose Lindsay Clancy or offer an opinion regarding criminal responsibility.

S4E161: Water Cooler Chat: When Intrusive Thoughts Enter The Courtroom

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In the Season 4 Finale of the OCD Family Podcast, Nicole welcomes back leading OCPD expert, Dr. Anthony Pinto, to discuss his brand new, co-authored self-help book: The Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder Workbook. Together, they explore burnout, shame, procrastination, rigidity, and the hidden emotional toll of OCPD—along with practical CBT tools that can help people build more flexibility, balance, and connection without losing themselves in the process.They also answer listener questions about relationships, narcissism and more. Whether you live with OCPD, love someone who does, or are learning about it for the first time, this episode offers compassion, insight, and hope. So join the conversation, and celebrate the hope that awareness and evidence-based tools can bring!

S4E160: Season Finale: The First OCPD Workbook Is Finally Here — And It Might Change Everything with Dr. Anthony Pinto

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In this episode, Nicole Morris, LMFT sits down with Michael Parker, LCSW <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@OCDspace412" rel="nofollow">(OCD Space)</a> for a deep dive into Inference-Based CBT (I-CBT) and some of the most common questions surrounding this evidence-based OCD treatment approach.Together, they explore inferential confusion, feared possible selves, differences between ERP and I-CBT, and why emotionally powerful feelings do not equal evidence that OCD’s story is true. The episode also includes a practical case conceptualization to help listeners understand how I-CBT works in treatment.Intrigued!? Come learn with us, because we continue to be better together.

S4E159: What If I'm the Villain In A Story My Brain Made Up? FAQ's about I-CBT Treatment for OCD with Michael Parker, LCSW

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In this episode of the OCD Family Podcast, Nicole Morris welcomes back Dr. Michael Greenberg, licensed clinical psychologist and creator of Rumination-Focused ERP, to explore a deeper way of understanding OCD.Dr. Greenberg shares insights from his article “OCD as a Defense Mechanism,” where he integrates behavioral approaches like ERP with psychoanalytic perspectives on emotional conflict and relational development. Together, Nicole and Michael discuss how OCD symptoms may function as defenses that displace difficult emotions into obsessions and compulsions.This conversation invites clinicians, families, and those with lived experience to consider a both-and approach to OCD treatment—one that addresses symptoms while also exploring the emotional dynamics that may fuel them.

S4E158: OCD Treatment: Learning to Sail & Calm the Storm with Dr. Michael Greenberg

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In this shorter check-in episode, Nicole shares why choosing rest and regulation over pressure and perfection is sometimes the most important OCD work we can do. When life feels chaotic, self-care isn’t avoidance—it’s protecting your nervous system.She also announces the re-release of key early episodes on YouTube, including conversations on supporting adult children with OCD and navigating higher levels of care.If you’re overwhelmed or newly navigating OCD, this is your reminder: you’re not alone—and there is hope.Full-length interviews resume next week.

S4E157: Self Care Isn't Selfish - Especially with OCD

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After an unplanned pause, Nicole is back—and she’s getting real about it. In this candid check-in episode, she shares why stepping away without over-explaining was actually an act of response prevention, not disappearance. OCD often demands perfection, performance, and constant reassurance—but sometimes the most regulated choice is silence.As 2026 begins, she explores how “new year, same fear” can feel especially true with transitions and added pressure. OCD doesn’t reset at midnight. Still, familiar fear doesn’t mean lifelong suffering. Drawing from her experience as both a clinician and someone in recovery, Nicole reminds listeners that evidence-based treatments like ERP, ICBT, ACT, and medication offer real hope.If you’re struggling—or supporting someone who is—this episode is a reminder: you’re not alone. We can sit with discomfort, choose values over fear, and build hope, even in quiet seasons.

S4E156: New Year, Same Fear: Handling OCD in 2026

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Welcome to our annual tradition of holiday games—where we raise awareness, build community, and sometimes laugh at OCD’s expense (because, why not?). This year, we’re playing Cards Against OCD: Ho-Ho-Holiday Edition, inspired by the classic Cards Against Humanity—but with an OCD-twist.Nicole is joined by thrice fabulous colleagues and friends, Madison @obsessivelystrong Di Silvio, Krista Reed, LSCSW, and Tracie @tabootracie Ibrahim, as we dive into the absurd, rule-breaking prompts that challenge OCD’s relentless need for control. Spoiler: We do not follow OCD’s rules—we follow our own values. So what are you waiting for? Let laugh, learn and remember that we’re better together!

S4E155: Cards Against OCD: Ho-Ho-Holiday Edition

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In this final installment of our OCRD Series, we explore Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) with Dr. Anthony Pinto and two special guests who bring powerful lived experience within the context of marriage and parenting. We discuss the difference between OCD and OCPD, how rigid thinking impacts relationships, and what growth looks like with a CBT Toolbox. Plus, we reflect on the hope available in the lifelong process of navigating OCPD. Finally, Nicole offer a values-based application practice to take with you into the holidays. So join the conversation, and let’s learn about OCPD!

S4E154: OCRD Series IV, Part IV: When OCPD Takes Over Your Marriage: Real Stories & Solutions

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In Part III of our OCRD Series, we explore Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), a serious eating disorder that often overlaps with OCD, anxiety, and sensory sensitivities. Host Nicole Morris, LMFT, breaks down how ARFID shows up in real life, courtesy of a FEAST presentation by Dr. Sarah Ravin, Ph.D., on how ARFID differs from typical picky eating, and what treatment options can help individuals and families navigate recovery. Additionally, Nicole provides some practical examples as she provides live reaction to Hannah Lea&#39;s bravery on her channel, @MyARFIDlife. So join the conversation, and leave with lots of hope! Because if anything, we&#39;re reminded that we&#39;re not alone.

S4E153: OCRD Series IV, Part III: ARFID: The One Diagnosis That Could Change How You See "Picky Eating" Forever

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BDD (Body Dysmorphic Disorder) affects millions, but quality education for both clinicians AND families has been hard to find—until now. In this episode, Nicole sits down with Kimberley Quinlan, LMFT—host of the highly successful Your Anxiety Toolkit podcast &amp; Chris Trondsen, LMFT—to get an exclusive overview of their groundbreaking new BDD course with CBT School. What makes this course special? It offers TWO distinct tracks, a clinical training path and a lived experience family track. Chris and Kim give us a bird&#39;s-eye view of what each track covers, who it&#39;s designed for, and how this course fills a critical gap in BDD education. Ready to dive deeper? Whether you&#39;re a family member seeking understanding or a clinician expanding your toolkit, this conversation will show you what&#39;s possible when expert knowledge meets compassionate education.

S4E152: OCRD Series IV, Part II: Understanding BDD: What Families & Clinicians Can Learn from Kimberley Quinlan & Chris Trondsen, LMFTs

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In this episode of our 4th Annual OCRD Series, we explore trichotillomania, skin picking, nail biting, and other BFRBs from two essential perspectives: someone living with these challenges and a treating psychologist specializing in OCD and related disorders.Whether you&#39;re a family member, partner, parent, or chosen family trying to understand BFRBs, or someone experiencing these behaviors yourself, this conversation offers real insights into what helps and what doesn&#39;t. Special guests, Jason Yu and Dr. Lisa Conway, discuss common struggles and goals while honoring the lived experience that statistics and clinical language can&#39;t capture. So join us for the conversation for lots of hope and practical guidance for loved ones and chosen family supporting BFRB warriors!

S4E151: OCRD Series IV, Part I: BFRBs Explained: Lived Experience Meets Psychological Expertise to Benefit Families

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In this special episode of the OCD Family Podcast, host Nicole Morris, LMFT, wraps up OCD Awareness Month by highlighting powerful stories from public figures like Scheana Shay, Braden Smith, Zane Gonzalez, Aly Raisman, Camila Cabello, and Howie Mandel as they share about their lived experience with OCD.Nicole offers clinical insight and family-focused commentary on themes like religious scrupulosity, perinatal OCD, medication, and the stigma surrounding OCD — reminding us that this disorder doesn’t discriminate, and that speaking out makes a difference. So join the conversation!

S4E150: Voices of OCD: Stories That Help Break The Silence

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Season 4 is HERE! Join the kick off with your host, Nicole Morris, LMFT and Mental Health Correspondent, as we discuss Indiana&#39;s first-ever IOCDF OCD Walk sponsored by OCD Midwest. Clinicians, families, and partners united to raise awareness and access to evidence-based treatment. In this season premiere, discover what made this groundbreaking event so powerful and why it matters for the OCD community worldwide. In this episode, Nicole will cover the significance of Indiana&#39;s first-ever IOCDF OCD Walk, how clinicians and community partners united for OCD awareness, stories from family members and intimate partners who joined, evidence-based practices that are changing lives and what this historic event means for OCD advocacy moving forward. So join the conversation because we are better together!

S4E149: Season 4 Premiere: We Walked For OCD Awareness & Here's What Happened!

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In our final water cooler chat of Season 3, join Nicole as we dive into what real courage looks like for OCD families—facing fears, bearing discomfort, and building resilience through ERP and I-CBT. Whether you’re supporting a loved one or on your own recovery journey, this episode is a heartfelt reminder that every act of bravery counts and that you’re never alone. Join us as we celebrate our community’s strength and look forward to Season 4!

S3E148: Water Cooler Chats: You're Stronger Than Your Fears

This is a podcast for anyone who loves someone suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

You are not alone. We are better together. And that is why I am here to create a community of support for family members, spouses, partners, parents, adult children (as there may be “adult” words) and chosen family of OCD Sufferers and their community.