This session emphasizes attitude over technique in treating anxiety. Reid Wilson and Lynn Lyons advocate treating anxiety as a mental game, encouraging clients to personify the disorder and focus on emotional patterns rather than specific fears. Core attitudes—like courage, defiance, and tenacity—are key to stepping into discomfort. Strategies include using metaphors, reframing health anxiety as OCD, and distinguishing real problems (signals) from mental noise.
Wilson presents a strategic, persuasive model for treating OCD, integrating principles from MRI brief therapy and Ericksonian hypnosis. His approach helps clients dismantle dysfunctional beliefs by introducing a paradoxical frame of reference, treating obsessions as irrelevant noise, and creating structured rules to bypass overthinking. Techniques include modifying rituals, using timers, postponing obsessions, and adding consequences to reinforce practice. With a focus on mindfulness, collaboration, and generating uncertainty, this method shifts clients from avoidance to empowered action.
