How to soothe OCD anxiety?
Written by the clinical team at The Lyceum Clinic. Clinically reviewed by Sanah Younis, Founder and Clinical Director, BABCP-accredited (no. 1000792). Published 28 October 2026. Last reviewed 28 October 2026.
Clinical perspective: The Lyceum's specialist therapist in OCD.
How are invisible compulsions treated?
Mental rituals (rumination, mental reviewing, counting, self-reassurance) are the stealth bombers of OCD. We treat them by making the invisible visible. The exposure is bringing the trigger to mind (e.g., reading a triggering article), and the 'Response Prevention' is assigning a competing cognitive task, or using a strict '15-minute delay' rule where they are forbidden from analysing the thought. We teach them to notice the urge to figure it out, and deliberately drop the rope.
What can families stop doing around reassurance?
I bring the partner in and say: 'When you answer their question (Are you sure I locked the door? Are you sure I'm not a bad person?), you feel like you are loving them. You are actually colluding with the OCD. I need you to reply with our agreed script: *That sounds like an OCD question, and because I love you, I am not going to answer it.*' The distress that follows is real, and it is hard on everyone in the house. The partner has to hold the line kindly, and without arguing the point. That moment is where the recovery is won.
For more detail, read about OCD therapy.
Reassurance seeking
I tell the client and family: 'Reassurance is a drug. It gives you 10 minutes of relief, followed by a heavier craving.' I ask partners to say, 'I love you too much to feed your anxiety, so I am not going to answer that.' We frame it as a team effort against the anxiety, not as the partner abandoning the client.