The Mental Compulsions Workbook for OCD: CBT and Mindfulness Skills to Navigate Intrusive Thoughts and Mental Traps

by Lauren K.M. Rosen

It’s time to break free from mental traps, and take back your life! If you have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), you may struggle with mental compulsions—such as ritualistic counting or “emotional checking.” You may even believe that these compulsions will reduce your anxiety or prevent something “bad” from happening. But the truth is that mental compulsions can be debilitating, and greatly impact your life, your career, and your relationships. So, how can you break free from this vicious cycle of overthinking? This workbook offers evidenced-based skills drawn from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness to help you reduce rumination, worry, and other mental traps, so you can live with more freedom and vitality. You’ll gain a better understanding of what mental compulsions are, how they differ from obsessions, and how they interfere with your life. You’ll also learn proven-effective skills and strategies to help you gain control of your mental compulsions, and guided journaling exercises to help you put these tools into practice. You don’t have to let intrusive thoughts, overthinking, and worry hold you back. This step-by-step workbook will help you reduce the rumination and other mental compulsions that keep you trapped in your mind, so you can finally take charge of your life.

Genres: Psychology

184 pages, Paperback

Published January 2, 2026

About the author

Lauren Rosen, LMFT, has dedicated her career to providing compassionate, evidence-based psychotherapy to those with OCD and Anxiety Disorders. She graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with her BA in Psychology, earned her Masters in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University, and trained at the OCD Center of Los Angeles. In 2022, Lauren founded the Center for the Obsessive Mind an outpatient clinic serving individuals in California, Florida, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania and select other states and countries. She and her team use ERP, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, to help people take their lives back from anxiety, distress and intrusive thoughts. Lauren is the author of The Mental Compulsions Workbook for OCD. You can find Lauren on Instagram and via the Purely OCD Podcast.

Reviews

[Cecilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff. Accessible, with a “take what you need” tone. If you pick this one up, consider this to be a gentle reminder to wear your seatbelt while engaging & to be kind to yourself and your silly little brain

4⭐️

**Thank you Libro.fm for the eALC**

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I majored in psychology and have been immersed in the world of wellness/personal development for probably 15 years. I had never heard of mental compulsions before. I always labeled myself as simply "anxious" and so anything OCD-related did not seem relevant to me. But I'm so glad a podcast led me down the path to finding this book. Regardless of whether you meet the criteria for OCD, anyone who struggles with obsessive thoughts and mental compulsions (e.g., ruminating, replaying events in your head, mental reassurance, checking things over and over again) would benefit from reading this.

The biggest "aha" moment for me was learning that mental compulsions reinforce the obsessive thoughts. What's the difference between mental compulsions and obsessive thoughts? A math analogy is used to illustrate this. If someone asks you what 2+2 is, your brain automatically answers that question for you: 4. It just pops into your mind. That could be compared to an obsessive thought because it seemingly comes out of nowhere and requires no active engagement. In comparison, if someone asks you what 29324x23 is, most people need to work it out in their heads if they don't have a calculator or pen and paper. This could be compared to a compulsion, where you are actively engaging in a behaviour, even though it's mental, invisible, and often hard to resist. In short, obsessions are automatic while compulsions are active. You can't make obsessions totally go away, but you can work on stopping your compulsive behaviour (including thoughts), which are stealing time away from your precious life and creating more suffering!

Whenever I had obsessions that caused me anxiety (e.g., "you're doing to die from this", "you hurt this person", etc etc), I thought reassuring myself (a common mental compulsion) was good because it made me feel better in the moment. But no. This book helped me understand that, while it's temporarily rewarding, it feeds the loop in the long term and creates the sense that I'm not safe unless I'm mentally compulsing. The key is to learn how to be with uncertainty instead of trying to resolve it instantly. Lauren details many alternative responses such as being present with uncomfortably feelings, labeling thoughts, engaging with your senses, mentally saying things like "I'm not going to solve this now," redirecting to more values-aligned behaviour, among other strategies.

Once I realized I had been training myself like Pavlov's dog to be more anxious and compulsive over the years - despite all my efforts to reduce my anxiety - I had to admit I panicked and felt a little defeated. Why had I not known of this before? It's hard work, retraining your mind, being aware, and resisting the urge to mentally compulse. But Lauren Rosen's compassionate approach and treasure trove of practical tips make me feel equipped to take on the task. I finished this book around two weeks ago and have already found many of the strategies Lauren presents extremely helpful. I love how many different approaches were integrated into the text, including a strong focus on values and mindfulness. In many ways, it's a guide on how to live a meaningful life.

TLDR: This book is really quite illuminating and I would recommend it to anyone who struggles with obsessive and compulsive thoughts.

[Madison White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful resource. Highly recommend for anyone struggling with OCE

[Michelle Massi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must have book for all clinicians who treat ocd and for individuals who have struggled to manage the mental aspect of OCD. It provides a guide to understanding what mental compulsions are, and best ways to beat them using evidence based cognitive and behavioral techniques.

[Ellen Pall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will be a godsend to the many people who suffer--and suffer and suffer--from the torment of intrusive thoughts (AKA mental compulsions). It is gentle, insightful, compassionate, carefully organized, and thoroughly researched. It begins by giving the reader a better understanding of the disorder that has been torturing them, follows up with simple questions and worksheets to help them recognize what is happening when it is happening, and step-by-step tools to find relief. Excellent book.