Lesson 6 of 6 · When to get help, and what help looks like
How to find somebody, and what to ask
Ask your doctor for a referral, or look for a therapist who names OCD and exposure and response prevention specifically. General talking therapy is often not the right tool for this, and a good therapist will tell you so themselves.
If your faith matters to how you want this handled, say so at the first meeting. Good practice in this area is explicitly to work alongside somebody religiously knowledgeable rather than around them, so that what is genuinely required in the religion is never mistaken for a symptom.
One rule of thumb, published by the International OCD Foundation for clinicians working with religious scrupulosity, is worth knowing. If roughly eighty five people in a hundred from your own community would not consider an act necessary, it is more likely being driven by the anxiety than required by the religion. It is a rough guide and not a fatwa, and it is a good question to bring to somebody who knows both sides.
What the research says
Clinicians treating religious people are advised to work with your religious authority rather than around them, so that what your religion actually asks of you is not mistaken for a symptom. That is why nothing here tells you to stop asking anybody anything.
Written for clinicians treating religious people. It sets out working with the person's religious authority as a collaborator rather than around them, so that what the religion actually requires is not treated as a symptom. The paragraph above is that practice, said to you instead of to a therapist. It is clinical guidance rather than a trial.
Huppert JD, Siev J (2010). Treating scrupulosity in religious individuals using cognitive-behavioral therapy. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 17(4), 382 to 392 doi