Breaking the Rules: A Clinician's Guide to Treating OCD

Breaking the Rules is a show for mental health professionals designed to help you build confidence in treating Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

Author: Dr Celin Gelgec and Dr Victoria Miller

Breaking the Rules is a show for mental health professionals designed to help you build confidence in treating Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Effective treatment of OCD requires commitment, creativity and the recognition that things can sometimes get a little messy. And on the show, youll hear from a range of leading professionals and learn everything there is to know about OCD and other related mental health concerns. This podcast is brought to you by Melbourne Wellbeing Group, a psychology practice based in Melbourne with a special focus on treating OCD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Language: en

Genres: Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Science, Social Sciences

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What Exposure Therapy Actually Feels Like (The Mentos/Jelly Bean Exercise)
Episode 75
Monday, 20 April, 2026

In this episode of Breaking the Rules, we do something a little different — we guide you through a live experiential exercise used in therapy to demonstrate how Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) actually feels in the moment.Using a simple jelly bean (or Mentos), we walk through an exercise that highlights one of the most important lessons in OCD treatment: the urge to escape discomfort can be powerful, but it can also be tolerated.Through this exercise, we explore how quickly the mind and body react to discomfort, how intrusive thoughts and urges show up, and how reconnecting with meaning and values can shift our relationship with those experiences.Experiential exercises like this are commonly used in ACT, DBT, and ERP therapy because they allow people to learn through doing, rather than just talking about the skills intellectually.In this episode we discuss:What experiential exercises are and why they are powerful in therapyWhy learning skills during calm moments is different from using them during triggersThe Mentos (or jelly bean) exercise used to simulate urge surfing and response preventionWhat happens in the mind and body when discomfort risesIntrusive thoughts, urges, and the instinct to escape discomfortThe role of meaning and values in increasing distress toleranceWhy acceptance changes our relationship to discomfort, not the discomfort itselfHow clinicians can use this exercise with clients, families, and teen group.🔖 Chapters00:00 Introduction – Doing Something Different Today02:00 What Is an Experiential Exercise?04:00 Why Experiential Learning Matters in ERP06:00 The Mentos (Jelly Bean) Exercise Begins08:00 Surfing the Urge to Swallow10:00 Intrusive Thoughts and Rising Discomfort11:30 Debrief: What Happened During the Exercise14:00 Acceptance and Changing Your Relationship to Discomfort16:00 Intrusive Thoughts, Images, and Urges18:00 Using This Exercise With Clients and Families20:00 Teaching ERP Through Experience Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.