Fingers Up For Me! - Rated 
I spent the most secretive time of my life, the years 1986-2005 hiding away from what is now known to be a common disorder. I suffered intensively from OCD and I was diagnosed with depression and OCD in November 2005. For almost two decades suffering in silence I'm now on the road to recovery and enjoying life to the full.
I have read many OCD books over the years and I can honestly say that there have been a very few good ones out there but when I was presented with this book called "Overcoming Obsessive Compulsive Disorder" I thought to myself it's just another one of these zillion self-help books but I was wrong. It held a thought of interest and captured a self belief , focusing on what I want and working out ways to make it happen and this grew every time when turning of the pages, I formed a personal connection with the true life stories in this book. All I can say, finally I have found a book I can relate to and now I can frankly say 'SPOT ON!' this book is the ultimate approach to self-help using Cognitive Behavioural Techniques. This book is ideal for teenagers as well as adults, my 14 year old niece had no difficulty reading and understanding this book. The book is well presented in-depth and is broken down into chapters and sections, any book written in Layman's terms is a win-win for me. The book incorporate NO bad philosophy and I would say is a yes-yes for young people as well as adults.
The least that it will do is enlighten you to the disorder... - Rated 
After reading this book, there are two points that I would like to raise before I give you my overall opinion, so bare with me.
Structure: The structure of the book is not the best and at times may confuse an individual using it to overcome their Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. You have to keep referring to the appendix which is a section that probably amounts to one third of the book. You may need to read a few of the chapters twice before you get the understanding that you will need.
Spelling and grammar: There were problems with spelling and grammar throughout the book, which were annoying but didn't really create a massive problem.
My overall thoughts on this book is that it is an excellent resource for OCD sufferers and therapists alike. It is very rich with 'real' help and advice that is reasonably easy to implement. If you suffer from OCD or are a therapist that helps others with OCD then you really should make a commitment to yourself to read this book. The least that it will do is enlighten you to the disorder.
Warmly,
Richard MacKenzie
Author of Self-Change Hypnosis
For therapists and clients - Rated
This book is part of a very useful series published by Robinson, each of which looks at applying CBT to a particular area of Mental Health (Anxiety, Depression, Low Self-Esteem, Anger & Irritability etc). Each book is written by a leading practitioner/researcher in the particular area of concern. Having now worked with CBT for many years, I believe that it is at its most useful when dealing with some of these specific Mental and Behavioural Health issues.
Although they are written as self-help books, in my experience they can also be useful to therapists as a practical introduction to working with a problem area. In some cases, therapist and client can work together using the book as a resource. CBT is, after all, an educative process where therapist and client collaboratively discover what will work best for the client's improvement (indeed, all psychotherapy can be seen as a form of structured experiential learning). A book like this can be a useful map for a part of the journey.
In this particular book, David Veale and Rob Willson outline the nature of OCD and the CBT approach to working with it. They point out that the use of the word "obsession" in everyday usage is different from its meaning in the context of OCD. Here it refers to any distressing thought, image or urge, "...associated in the person's mind with the power to prevent harm occurring" (p. 10). Such obsessions are therefore associated with Safety-seeking Behaviours (an important concept in the CBT of any Anxiety Disorder) which tend to maintain the obsession.
Other important concepts described are
* The over-importance of thoughts.
* Inflated responsibility & Magical thinking.
* Overestimation of danger.
* Perfectionism.
* Attention biases.
In relation to recovery from OCD, the main approach described is that of Response Prevention, which has been well established in the evidence base for quite a long time as one of the most effective ways of working with these issues. Veale and Willson sum up the process as follows:
1. Develop a hierarchy of triggers
2. Face your fear
3. Make exposure long enough
4. Make exposure frequent enough
5. No anxiety-reducing strategies
6. If you do a ritual, repeat the exposure
7. Monitor progress
Other approaches described include the "Theory A & Theory B" approach, where different possible interpretations of the client's thoughts and feelings are tested using behavioural experiments, and Mindfulness Meditation, which is now being incorporated into CBT approaches to a number of problems, including Chronic Pain and Depression.
The authors also include some useful forms in the appendices, in relation to both assessment and treatment.
Probably very good but didn't quite suit me - Rated
Hi I just wanted to jump on to say that I didn't really find that this book was really for me but don't let that put you off because I think it all depends on finding something that suits you personally.
One thing I do want to say is that the book advises against 'relabelling' the illness. This is when you say 'it's not me, it's OCD' which is fundermental to another very successful treatement method. The reason the book advises this though is because relabelling can end up being used as a ritual if it is not understood what it means. Saying 'it's not me, it's OCD' (relabelling) is good. It can be bad if you loose track of what it means and just repeat it as any old phrase over and over as a ritual without trying to realise that this thing is OCD and not you.
In Brain Lock where the phrase comes from, it says that relabelling can just become a ritual if it is done in a glib, automatic, off hand manner. What it advises you must do is to use mindful awareness (the impartial spectator.) So basically, relabelling is good but you need to think about what it means. Simply, this is just realising, or striving to realise, that this thing is not you, it's an illness, that's why you're doing this, it's not you.
I think that another reason it advises against relabelling is that it can sometimes get to a point where you just start obsessing 'how do I know it's not me though?' This I think is the only reason the book advises against it. Not because doing so is in someway flawed.
So relabelling is good. If you're using this method, keep it up and keep the faith : )
I've checked all this out with my Psychiatrist by the way who agrees, it's not just something I've worked out myself.
Unfortunatley though the book doesn't explain this, which I personally think is a very reckless and very ill-considered thing to do.
Other than that, I'll let you look at the other reviews and decide from them. If you do get this book and don't find it all that great, may I suggest Brain Lock by Jeffery Schwartz. This has been my bible against the illness and I wouldn't be without it.
All the best and remember that everyone with OCD is a really good person, a cut above the rest. This is because of the over heightened sense of responsibility that is a prerequisite for getting the illness. I've met, through therapy sessions, about ten other people with OCD and it's always the same. Unfortunatley, OCD can have a way of telling you that you're anything but good but this is just the illness, it's what it does. The fact that you're worried about the things shows that you're good. If you weren't good, you wouldn't be worried. Remember that if you're suffering from thoughts that you find unacceptable (not all people with OCD do by the way), this is what OCD does. It torments you by making you think that you are or are turning into something that you find abhorent - it's just the illness making you think this, it's not you.
All the best and good luck : )
This book changed my life - Rated
This book is exceptional. Reading it, and carrying out the CBT methods it describes has changed my life.
I've read other ocd books and am sorry to say that many offer advice that is unsupported by the majority of CB therapists. This, however, is written by 2 of the leading experts in the field, and provides a thorough programme of advice and support for you to truely make progress with your ocd.
I'd recommend this book for people with all kinds of ocd, not only the text book symptoms. the principles of cbt are so clear and well tested that with a bit of extra thought, you can adapt them to your needs.
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