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Hello Brave Friends! Welcome to today’s expert episode, #250, featuring Dr. Jenn Rapkin, who joins us for a powerful and clarifying conversation about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

These expert episodes are conversations with professionals whose work directly supports caregiving parents. In this episode, hosts Jessica Patay and Susanna Peace Lovell sit down with Dr. Rapkin to unpack the many misconceptions surrounding OCD and to offer deeper understanding for families navigating intrusive thoughts, anxiety, and compulsive behaviors.

Dr. Rapkin shares her perspective not only as a clinician, but also as someone who has personally experienced OCD and as a parent of a child with the condition. Together, they explore how OCD is often misunderstood and trivialized as simply being “neat” or “organized,” when in reality it can significantly disrupt daily life through intrusive thoughts and compulsions—including mental compulsions that may go unnoticed by others.

The conversation covers how OCD presents in children, the impact of trauma, and why early recognition and proper diagnosis are so important. Dr. Rapkin explains why Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is considered the gold standard treatment and what it truly means to sit with discomfort rather than allowing OCD to dictate behavior. She also emphasizes that managing OCD is often a lifelong journey—one that requires compassion, support, and informed care.

This episode replaces stigma with understanding and offers practical, hopeful insight for families seeking clarity around OCD.

Find more information about Dr. Jenn Rapkin here.

Find Jenn’s book, The Feeling Muscle here.

Find more information about Life Coach, Susanna Peace Lovell here.

Find Susanna’s book, Your True Self is Enough here.

Find our first book from We Are Brave Together here.

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Brave Together is the podcast for We are Brave Together, a not-for-profit organization based in the USA. The heart of We Are Brave Together is to strengthen, encourage, inspire and validate all moms of children with disabilities and other needs in their unique journeys. 

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