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"Pure O" OCD: Letting Go of Obsessive Thoughts with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Let go of the struggle and obsess less. With this unique guide, you’ll find the tools you need to get unstuck from obsessive thoughts, overcome fears, feel more grounded, and live a life that truly reflects your values. Pure obsessional obsessive-compulsive disorder, or “Pure O” OCD, is a subtype of OCD that is characterized by intrusive thoughts, images, or urges without any visible compulsive symptoms. Instead, obsessive worry, regret, or uncertainty is accompanied by “hidden” compulsions like reassurance seeking, avoidance, or complex thought rituals. This can lead to decisions based on fears and compulsions rather than grounded in your values. The efforts to stop or change obsessive thoughts only leads to more anxiety and fear. So, how do you break this obsessive cycle? Grounded in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and written by a renowned ACT and anxiety expert, “Pure O” OCD explains the process of “cognitive fusion” that leads to obsessive thinking, and how efforts to avoid or control our thoughts reinforce the fusion in an unhelpful, positive feedback loop. Using the five skills in the book—labeling, letting go, acceptance, mindfulness, and proceeding with purpose—you’ll learn how to finally break free of the struggle, worrying, and avoidance that keeps you stuck. With practice, you’ll find that you can change your relationship to anxiety and obsessive thoughts, responding with your own values-based choices, proceeding purposefully toward a life that reflects what matters most to you.
259 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 2, 2023
265 people are currently reading
1288 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
January 9, 2026
“I want to make my life bigger, but the OCD wants to keep it small.”
🧠
This has been a very informative read, with insightful examples and practical tools that target things often overlooked or forgotten in our quest for healing.
In its focus on the thought processes of OCD, this book presents the concept of LLAMP :
🔖 Labelling fused thoughts
🕊️ Letting go of the struggle to control thoughts
🧠 Accepting thoughts as thoughts
🌱 being Mindful of the present moment
🧭 and acting with a sense of Purpose, guided by your values instead of anxiety or compulsions.
These five skills are presented thoroughly, with cases from real people struggling with different types of OCD and compulsions.
I particularly appreciated the focus on values and fear, as this is often skipped over, despite how deeply it links to how we react and act.
Two of the tools Paul finds especially helpful and discerning are the Problems List and the Labelling section. I also found the section presenting the contextual self to be very perceptive and potentially very helpful in situating oneself and addressing thoughts.
The author often guides the reader/listener through several exercises and thought processes that help discern and differentiate experiences in a mindful way throughout the different sections of the book.
📌 One Missing Piece
The tools shared are quite useful; however, they are mixed within the text without a proper annexe at the end for easier access. This felt particularly missing, as the book clearly hopes readers will walk away actively using these tools.
--
Pre-read:
I swear I am not trying to make Paul major in psychology but these are very important topics for us.
This has been a very informative read, with insightful examples and practical tools that target things often overlooked or forgotten in our quest for healing.
In its focus on the thought processes of OCD, this book presents the concept of LLAMP :
🔖 Labelling fused thoughts
🕊️ Letting go of the struggle to control thoughts
🧠 Accepting thoughts as thoughts
🌱 being Mindful of the present moment
🧭 and acting with a sense of Purpose, guided by your values instead of anxiety or compulsions.
These five skills are presented thoroughly, with cases from real people struggling with different types of OCD and compulsions.
I particularly appreciated the focus on values and fear, as this is often skipped over, despite how deeply it links to how we react and act.
Two of the tools Paul finds especially helpful and discerning are the Problems List and the Labelling section. I also found the section presenting the contextual self to be very perceptive and potentially very helpful in situating oneself and addressing thoughts.
The author often guides the reader/listener through several exercises and thought processes that help discern and differentiate experiences in a mindful way throughout the different sections of the book.
📌 One Missing Piece
The tools shared are quite useful; however, they are mixed within the text without a proper annexe at the end for easier access. This felt particularly missing, as the book clearly hopes readers will walk away actively using these tools.
--
Pre-read:
I swear I am not trying to make Paul major in psychology but these are very important topics for us.
February 5, 2025
4.8/5 - the irony of obsessing over OCD books is not lost on me, but this was another great science-backed and cathartic read
November 5, 2024
How can I say all that I want to about this book: it is spectacular, life-changing, beautiful. Dr. Lejeune is a wonderful guide through the awful waves of pure-O, describing the symptoms and conditions well through various real-life patients' stories, illuminating the issues with living this way and the showing us the way forward. There are obsessions I have been struggling with my whole life that this book has helped me do away with!!
This book isn't just for pure-O OCD peeps, though: Dr. Lejeune teaches practices, like making value-based decisions, that can help anyone live a better life. I have already helped several other people including my own parents by sharing things I learned from this book!
This book isn't just for pure-O OCD peeps, though: Dr. Lejeune teaches practices, like making value-based decisions, that can help anyone live a better life. I have already helped several other people including my own parents by sharing things I learned from this book!
August 8, 2024
An excellent resource with a good description of Pure O OCD.
Includes helpful tips in the second half for the reader to try as well as several case studies.
Includes helpful tips in the second half for the reader to try as well as several case studies.
March 25, 2025
an incredible amount of real and helpful advice for Obsessive thoughts and anxiety.
Reading notes...
.
.
.
ACT approach therapy
Interesting information about anxiety. Threat bias and Cognitive fusion
Consciousness, judgment, attachment to our thoughts and detachment from the present experience
Book "brain lock " by jeffrey shwartz
This is so helpful for anxiety and Obsessive thinking.
Labeling your experience (Cognitive diffusion) labeling thoughts: Not helpful, too much, questionable. This is not the same as changing or not having the thought. It's there. We're just deciding not to put it on our plate and eat it.
It's impossible to stop yourself from having a thought but maybe you don't have to buy it.
5 skill areas for diffusion:
Label
let go
Accept
Mindfulness (meditation, going for a walk)
Proceed with purpose
61% an incredible amount of real and helpful advice for Obsessive thoughts and anxiety.
73% this actually explained in a step by step narrative of how to be mindful or what I would call meditate on the breath. That was incredibly detailed and helpful.
76% The cost of avoidance
Reading notes...
.
.
.
ACT approach therapy
Interesting information about anxiety. Threat bias and Cognitive fusion
Consciousness, judgment, attachment to our thoughts and detachment from the present experience
Book "brain lock " by jeffrey shwartz
This is so helpful for anxiety and Obsessive thinking.
Labeling your experience (Cognitive diffusion) labeling thoughts: Not helpful, too much, questionable. This is not the same as changing or not having the thought. It's there. We're just deciding not to put it on our plate and eat it.
It's impossible to stop yourself from having a thought but maybe you don't have to buy it.
5 skill areas for diffusion:
Label
let go
Accept
Mindfulness (meditation, going for a walk)
Proceed with purpose
61% an incredible amount of real and helpful advice for Obsessive thoughts and anxiety.
73% this actually explained in a step by step narrative of how to be mindful or what I would call meditate on the breath. That was incredibly detailed and helpful.
76% The cost of avoidance
December 2, 2025
A metaphor that resonated with me is that thoughts are to us as clouds are to the sky. The blue sky, or us, are the context, and the clouds are the content. Your experience throughout life will consist of a great deal, but always there, in the background, is you.
A key idea is that of cognitive fusion. This is when the anxious thought of a tiger lurking in the bushes scares us just as bad as an actual tiger. We experience the thought as the actual thing, which triggers a struggle for control.
Cognitive fusion can affect thoughts of our self, the past, or the future. If you grapple with a thought again and again, it might be fused. After all, thoughts can't be controlled - what's there to struggle with?
The book included a few really helpful examples. A man who banished a jacket to the back of his closet because he couldn't stop associating it with the ugly old man who sneezed on it. A woman who repeatedly imagined her parents funerals to check if she actually loved them. A man who had startling images of himself spiking women's drinks and feared he might do such a thing.
TLDR: IF YOU AVOIDED STEPPING ON CRACKS AS A CHILD WATCH TF OUT
A key idea is that of cognitive fusion. This is when the anxious thought of a tiger lurking in the bushes scares us just as bad as an actual tiger. We experience the thought as the actual thing, which triggers a struggle for control.
Cognitive fusion can affect thoughts of our self, the past, or the future. If you grapple with a thought again and again, it might be fused. After all, thoughts can't be controlled - what's there to struggle with?
The book included a few really helpful examples. A man who banished a jacket to the back of his closet because he couldn't stop associating it with the ugly old man who sneezed on it. A woman who repeatedly imagined her parents funerals to check if she actually loved them. A man who had startling images of himself spiking women's drinks and feared he might do such a thing.
TLDR: IF YOU AVOIDED STEPPING ON CRACKS AS A CHILD WATCH TF OUT
December 12, 2025
I give five stars to books that change the course of my life, and Lejeune did that here.
I discovered a couple years back that a professional once noticed that I showed signs of obsessive and anxious thought when I was in 3rd grade. The assessment was clear - "this child seems less like they have ADHD and more likely to have OCD and lots of anxiety". For whatever reason, the ADHD narrative continued my whole life, and I spent a lot of it on Adderall to maintain my focus.
This book made it clear that focus was rarely the issue, but avoidance, compulsive rumination, and cognitive fusion to imagined narratives and thoughts that troubled me. I have given a lot (like a LOT) (LIKE SO MUCH) of my life to sitting with these false realities and consulting very little else.
This book does not equate to a diagnosis, obvs, but the more I read the more it ended the seemingly endless battle in my head - how much am I to blame for my own stagnancy? What is me limiting myself versus me limited by my brain?
The definitions and concepts given are alone enough to change one's perspective of their own life, to build a recognition of one's own patterns, but Lejeune also provides a series of low-stakes activities and exercises for divesting from these patterns. The tools provided are not only helpful, but can be broken down to essentials to tackle different stages of defusion.
2025 was a very weird year for me, but Lejeune's book made it not only bearable but moment-defining. Thanks, Chad!
I discovered a couple years back that a professional once noticed that I showed signs of obsessive and anxious thought when I was in 3rd grade. The assessment was clear - "this child seems less like they have ADHD and more likely to have OCD and lots of anxiety". For whatever reason, the ADHD narrative continued my whole life, and I spent a lot of it on Adderall to maintain my focus.
This book made it clear that focus was rarely the issue, but avoidance, compulsive rumination, and cognitive fusion to imagined narratives and thoughts that troubled me. I have given a lot (like a LOT) (LIKE SO MUCH) of my life to sitting with these false realities and consulting very little else.
This book does not equate to a diagnosis, obvs, but the more I read the more it ended the seemingly endless battle in my head - how much am I to blame for my own stagnancy? What is me limiting myself versus me limited by my brain?
The definitions and concepts given are alone enough to change one's perspective of their own life, to build a recognition of one's own patterns, but Lejeune also provides a series of low-stakes activities and exercises for divesting from these patterns. The tools provided are not only helpful, but can be broken down to essentials to tackle different stages of defusion.
2025 was a very weird year for me, but Lejeune's book made it not only bearable but moment-defining. Thanks, Chad!
August 11, 2025
This is a great application of principles from ACT for treating OCD, and a refreshing shift from more traditional CBT/ERP approaches. The author describes how those approaches are compatible with ACT, and how ERP can be used together with this approach. He sums up the difference between typical CBT and ACT well by saying that ACT tends to “develop a different set of skills that focus more on changing your relationship to distorted thoughts, rather than changing the thoughts themselves.” That shift may seem subtle, but I think it’s so helpful for OCD because the obsessive thoughts can be hard to completely refute logically (and can keep a person caught in the obsessive cycle of struggling with the thoughts), but changing the relationship to them can help a person gain distance from them instead in order to choose a different way of responding to them.
This book has an extremely helpful roadmap for skills to apply to work with obsessive (or anxious) thoughts. It also brings compassion to the different forms OCD can take, especially the ones that might be less outwardly recognizable because they tend to be “pure O” or primarily thought-based. The author clearly shows how “pure O” forms have a compulsive element, even if it’s harder to see (like thought/mental checking, avoidance, or reassurance seeking). His case studies highlight the range of forms it might take as well as how to apply these treatment principles in each case.
The steps or skills are summarized as LLAMP:
Label sticky thoughts
Let go of the struggle to control them
Accept them as separate from reality and be
Mindful of the present and connect with
Purpose to tilt toward more flexibility
The end includes ways to create your own treatment plan and how different parts of LLAMP may be more or less valuable in individual situations, illustrated by his case studies.
I love this book because it (1) raises awareness of less commonly recognized forms of OCD that often are overlooked or misdiagnosed, (2) very clearly explains how ACT principles can be applied to OCD treatment, (3) helps therapists and people with OCD alike for understanding a way forward - it can also help anyone wanting to understand their thought processes better and choose actions based on what matters to them.
This book has an extremely helpful roadmap for skills to apply to work with obsessive (or anxious) thoughts. It also brings compassion to the different forms OCD can take, especially the ones that might be less outwardly recognizable because they tend to be “pure O” or primarily thought-based. The author clearly shows how “pure O” forms have a compulsive element, even if it’s harder to see (like thought/mental checking, avoidance, or reassurance seeking). His case studies highlight the range of forms it might take as well as how to apply these treatment principles in each case.
The steps or skills are summarized as LLAMP:
Label sticky thoughts
Let go of the struggle to control them
Accept them as separate from reality and be
Mindful of the present and connect with
Purpose to tilt toward more flexibility
The end includes ways to create your own treatment plan and how different parts of LLAMP may be more or less valuable in individual situations, illustrated by his case studies.
I love this book because it (1) raises awareness of less commonly recognized forms of OCD that often are overlooked or misdiagnosed, (2) very clearly explains how ACT principles can be applied to OCD treatment, (3) helps therapists and people with OCD alike for understanding a way forward - it can also help anyone wanting to understand their thought processes better and choose actions based on what matters to them.
March 6, 2024
This book was so validating as a person who’s dealt with anxiety since basically birth. I discovered it after discussing rumination with my psychiatrist and she mentioned “pure O”, a complex and misunderstood side of OCD. The book is super informative and the exercises provided go beyond OCD. I would recommend this book to a person with GAD or anyone struggling with anxious thoughts. The takeaway that resonated the most and has been the most empowering was learning the difference between contextual and conceptional self.
“If you are able to observe ocd operating in your mind in the form of anxious thoughts, there must be more to you than those thoughts. The part of you that is able to observe the anxiety is the larger, broader contextual you. This you is not anxiety. This you is not anxious. This you requires no protection from thoughts and feelings. When we identify with contextual self, we have the opportunity to hold our experience in a different way. We can carry judgments more lightly and even make room for more painful thoughts and feelings. We can shift from struggling for control to something else.”
“If you are able to observe ocd operating in your mind in the form of anxious thoughts, there must be more to you than those thoughts. The part of you that is able to observe the anxiety is the larger, broader contextual you. This you is not anxiety. This you is not anxious. This you requires no protection from thoughts and feelings. When we identify with contextual self, we have the opportunity to hold our experience in a different way. We can carry judgments more lightly and even make room for more painful thoughts and feelings. We can shift from struggling for control to something else.”
January 6, 2025
Great resource for people who suffer from anxious and obsessive thoughts.
September 30, 2025
Helpful for someone who tends to have an obsessive mind (🙋♀️)
February 12, 2023
clearest description of mindfulness
Mindfulness and it’s relationship to anxiety, meditation, and ACT finally makes sense to me. Highly recommend this book for anyone experiencing anxiety,
Mindfulness and it’s relationship to anxiety, meditation, and ACT finally makes sense to me. Highly recommend this book for anyone experiencing anxiety,
August 9, 2024
the small section on values was somewhat useful for about 5 minutes until the values mall … i want more than $100 dollars worth of values thank you … just think this book is not very useful if you are autistic and also have ocd because it relies a lot on being able to recognise and identify emotions, specific thoughts, and bodily sensations
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December 26, 2025This was good, thank u Chad. Lots of good explanations and hard work to do for me now
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January 15, 2026A lot of perspective shifts with this! I found the composite profiles a bit limited, though. This is a little hard to express, but I found that the experience of the guy who was worried about his son growing up and the woman who was scared she didn't love her parents were so different. I know the author is going to disagree, but a lot of the strategies in the book rely on the fear/anxiety/obsession not being real or guaranteed (like germs won't hurt you, you are not a sociopath, your son may still like you in the future, you may still do well academically, your career success is possible in both jobs, etc.). And for sure not all of my things are either, but the top two are lol so when I tried the mocking exercise or the humor or the labeling, it almost felt more like an exercise in denial? The idea of diffusion, though, is incredibly useful and powerful!
August 20, 2025
OBSESSED with this book. 😉
I think if I would have read this in the height of my OCD it would have stressed me out more because the first few chapters are very thought heavy and philosophical -the original problem was spending too much mental energy ruminating. But with a little more separation from the traumatic events that triggered my OCD I can see how these principles are what ultimately pulled me out of my head and can help me heal more fully as I practice incorporating them into my living experience.
I think if I would have read this in the height of my OCD it would have stressed me out more because the first few chapters are very thought heavy and philosophical -the original problem was spending too much mental energy ruminating. But with a little more separation from the traumatic events that triggered my OCD I can see how these principles are what ultimately pulled me out of my head and can help me heal more fully as I practice incorporating them into my living experience.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 15, 2024
Informative, well written book. Bonus: a good sense of humour in between the lines :)
October 8, 2024
Extremely helpful book for pure o and anxiety. I think anyone struggling with repetitive “sticky thoughts” could benefit from this read.
March 13, 2025
Not terrible, but not too helpful
July 18, 2025
I’m interested to see if the techniques provided in this book are helpful to me.
January 21, 2026
So much to think about! Without having yet applied the techniques in the book, I am already feeling less "crazy" just by gaining so much understanding of what is happening in my brain. I imagine I will be referencing back often to practice the art of changing my relationship to my thoughts.
Highly recommend!
Highly recommend!
April 12, 2025
Very informative and helpful!! I will benefit greatly from the teachings in this book!
November 2, 2023
From the first pages in "Pure O" OCD I knew I was reading the right book. And that's key to those of us with OCD - that moment of resonance; when something's explained in a way that lands, that feels true to our own personal experience. Ask anyone with OCD: finding something that resonates is the ultimate medicine. We are all seeking it, all the time.
My Pure O OCD 'type' is tricky, sticky and icky, and it's very rarely addressed in any self help or therapeutic literature. But in Chad LeJeune's book, "Pure O" OCD , it is addressed, in many ways and in every chapter. LeJeune tells the stories of his clients, really breaking down common themes, in a far more detailed way than I've ever found in non fiction on OCD.
LeJeune delves deep into cognitive fusion - which felt like a tonic for my hyperactive soul. His examples are atypical, like Pure O examples usually are, and for once I felt like I was getting the full picture of what my brain is going through from obsession to compulsion and all of it in between. It's the in between that LeJeune has a brilliance for and deep experience with. Everyone's OCD is so personal and unique, and LeJeune's translation and understanding is beyond that of most people in this field. He gets into the 'weirder' experiences we Pure O's need to hear about.
I could go on about something in every chapter as there are many dog eared pages and pencil highlights as I'm on my second read, but the chapter I'd like to comment on for
review is Chapter 5 , 'Song of Myself.' This chapter goes deeper into the concept of 'self' in relation to OCD and it was profoundly enlightening for me. LeJeune's secret sauce as a leading OCD therapist comes through in every chapter, but in this chapter in particular, it's brilliant. He explores the conceptual and contextual sense of self. We learn early on to tell ourselves things like "It's not ME, it's my OCD" but that barely scrapes the surface of the fruitful comprehension offered by LeJeuene in this chapter and throughout this book.
I'm no new comer to OCD, having been a speaker and advocate at OCD conferences and support groups for many years, and my sincere hope is for everyone with OCD and all OCD therapists will read and use this book and use it as a tool and guide.
My Pure O OCD 'type' is tricky, sticky and icky, and it's very rarely addressed in any self help or therapeutic literature. But in Chad LeJeune's book, "Pure O" OCD , it is addressed, in many ways and in every chapter. LeJeune tells the stories of his clients, really breaking down common themes, in a far more detailed way than I've ever found in non fiction on OCD.
LeJeune delves deep into cognitive fusion - which felt like a tonic for my hyperactive soul. His examples are atypical, like Pure O examples usually are, and for once I felt like I was getting the full picture of what my brain is going through from obsession to compulsion and all of it in between. It's the in between that LeJeune has a brilliance for and deep experience with. Everyone's OCD is so personal and unique, and LeJeune's translation and understanding is beyond that of most people in this field. He gets into the 'weirder' experiences we Pure O's need to hear about.
I could go on about something in every chapter as there are many dog eared pages and pencil highlights as I'm on my second read, but the chapter I'd like to comment on for
review is Chapter 5 , 'Song of Myself.' This chapter goes deeper into the concept of 'self' in relation to OCD and it was profoundly enlightening for me. LeJeune's secret sauce as a leading OCD therapist comes through in every chapter, but in this chapter in particular, it's brilliant. He explores the conceptual and contextual sense of self. We learn early on to tell ourselves things like "It's not ME, it's my OCD" but that barely scrapes the surface of the fruitful comprehension offered by LeJeuene in this chapter and throughout this book.
I'm no new comer to OCD, having been a speaker and advocate at OCD conferences and support groups for many years, and my sincere hope is for everyone with OCD and all OCD therapists will read and use this book and use it as a tool and guide.
November 24, 2025
The author defines an obsession as 'a thought you are not willing to have'.
I liked this book as an intro to 'pure O' OCD as well as to the ACT approach in psychotherapy. I have always thought that being a 'thinker' or analytical person is a good thing but the book made me realize that not all our thoughts are necessarily helpful. I started treating my thoughts and imagination less seriously. It gave me tools to look at my thoughts more objectively. I would recommend this book to anyone who is prone to getting intrusive thoughts and getting anxious about the fact.
The book has 2 parts.
Part 1 starts with describing how anxiety affects our body and thinking, leading to cognitive fusion or, in other words, perceiving our thoughts as if they are reality.
Chapter 2 then goes over different cases, from phobias to worry to OCD where this cognitive fusion plays a role. In OCD and 'pure O' specifically, these get more abstract while the compulsions become more subtle.
Chapters 3, 4 and 5 are about different ways pure O and thought fusion can affect us. I particularly liked the idea of 'time fusion' where the future feels fixed and inevitably, leading to issues with decision making. I could relate to this chapter the most.
The idea of part 2 is, on the one hand, to provide tools to defuse the thoughts, stripping them of their power, and, on the other hand, help the individual movement towards their values. I found part 2 quite actionable.
I liked that there were 4-5 case studies of patients, although not all of them had the same amount of analysis or coverage.
I liked this book as an intro to 'pure O' OCD as well as to the ACT approach in psychotherapy. I have always thought that being a 'thinker' or analytical person is a good thing but the book made me realize that not all our thoughts are necessarily helpful. I started treating my thoughts and imagination less seriously. It gave me tools to look at my thoughts more objectively. I would recommend this book to anyone who is prone to getting intrusive thoughts and getting anxious about the fact.
The book has 2 parts.
Part 1 starts with describing how anxiety affects our body and thinking, leading to cognitive fusion or, in other words, perceiving our thoughts as if they are reality.
Chapter 2 then goes over different cases, from phobias to worry to OCD where this cognitive fusion plays a role. In OCD and 'pure O' specifically, these get more abstract while the compulsions become more subtle.
Chapters 3, 4 and 5 are about different ways pure O and thought fusion can affect us. I particularly liked the idea of 'time fusion' where the future feels fixed and inevitably, leading to issues with decision making. I could relate to this chapter the most.
The idea of part 2 is, on the one hand, to provide tools to defuse the thoughts, stripping them of their power, and, on the other hand, help the individual movement towards their values. I found part 2 quite actionable.
I liked that there were 4-5 case studies of patients, although not all of them had the same amount of analysis or coverage.
June 17, 2025
I was very surprised to have found as much help as I did in this book. Therapy has largely felt like a way to spend extra money to let people tell me things I already knew, so I did not anticipate that I would find helpful techniques for handling long term problems.
"Pure O" OCD is a bit insidious as it can be easy to mistake for generalized anxiety disorder. I spent most of my life not knowing that I had OCD. I thought I just had certain ideas that were hard to let go of. I had always seen OCD characterized by people trapped in their rituals. I didn't have any sort of ritual so I had never thought it applied to me.
The problem comes when you try to manage it the same way that you would anxiety. So a lot of well meaning advice has been either unhelpful or even detrimental. I appreciated the way things were explained in this book. Not just "do this" but "here is why you should do this, even though it is counter intuitive, and here is what we hope to accomplish through this process"
There were parts that felt less helpful. With the explanation of mindfulness, I either completely misunderstood, or it was not a helpful technique for me. But other parts were immediately helpful, even before putting them into practice. Just understanding why a problem is happening and hearing that there is a different approach and why it makes sense was a relief in itself.
"Pure O" OCD is a bit insidious as it can be easy to mistake for generalized anxiety disorder. I spent most of my life not knowing that I had OCD. I thought I just had certain ideas that were hard to let go of. I had always seen OCD characterized by people trapped in their rituals. I didn't have any sort of ritual so I had never thought it applied to me.
The problem comes when you try to manage it the same way that you would anxiety. So a lot of well meaning advice has been either unhelpful or even detrimental. I appreciated the way things were explained in this book. Not just "do this" but "here is why you should do this, even though it is counter intuitive, and here is what we hope to accomplish through this process"
There were parts that felt less helpful. With the explanation of mindfulness, I either completely misunderstood, or it was not a helpful technique for me. But other parts were immediately helpful, even before putting them into practice. Just understanding why a problem is happening and hearing that there is a different approach and why it makes sense was a relief in itself.
April 2, 2025
“Many people with OCD struggle with obsessions that have nothing at all to do with contamination or cleanliness, and engaged in compulsions that are more subtle than washing or ordering objects.”
This book is an essential read for anyone struggling with or seeking to understand “Pure O” OCD. The author does an outstanding job of shedding light on this often-misunderstood form of OCD, offering validation and hope to those who feel trapped by intrusive thoughts. Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), the book provides practical, compassionate strategies to help readers loosen the grip of obsession and reclaim their lives. It’s refreshing to see a resource that gives “Pure O” the attention it deserves, and the author’s expertise and empathy shine through on every page. Highly recommended!
This book is an essential read for anyone struggling with or seeking to understand “Pure O” OCD. The author does an outstanding job of shedding light on this often-misunderstood form of OCD, offering validation and hope to those who feel trapped by intrusive thoughts. Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), the book provides practical, compassionate strategies to help readers loosen the grip of obsession and reclaim their lives. It’s refreshing to see a resource that gives “Pure O” the attention it deserves, and the author’s expertise and empathy shine through on every page. Highly recommended!
June 18, 2025
I decided to read this after struggling with a recent OCD diagnosis. I don't fit any of the official subtypes, and I don't have any physical compulsions. I thought this might help me clear up my confusion.
I would say it did a pretty good job. At the very least, it taught me some valuable concepts that I can take with me in my ERP practice, namely that of the difference between the conceptual and contextual self. Although it outlines ACT, it is very easily incorporated into ERP. Readers might also enjoy the fact that it's less of a workbook and more of an educational book (although I would still recommend using it with a professional).
I'm still struggling with my diagnosis, but not as much. The example stories in this book helped with that.
I would say it did a pretty good job. At the very least, it taught me some valuable concepts that I can take with me in my ERP practice, namely that of the difference between the conceptual and contextual self. Although it outlines ACT, it is very easily incorporated into ERP. Readers might also enjoy the fact that it's less of a workbook and more of an educational book (although I would still recommend using it with a professional).
I'm still struggling with my diagnosis, but not as much. The example stories in this book helped with that.
September 21, 2025
This was probably my favorite "self-help" book that I have ever read. The book is divided into two parts, I found the first part (5/5) to be amazing as it is more or a less an summary of what is "Pure O" OCD. Unfortunately, the second part (4/5), which had more practical applications and techniques for confronting OCD, was a bit less well-written.
The author's tone is comforting and he is clearly well-informed on the subject of OCD, so, I whole heartedly recommend this book. It also is nice to see a resource approaching the OCD from an ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) lens than the more common CBT one.
I wish I could give it a 5 star rating, but I struggled a bit with applying some concepts in the second part.
The author's tone is comforting and he is clearly well-informed on the subject of OCD, so, I whole heartedly recommend this book. It also is nice to see a resource approaching the OCD from an ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) lens than the more common CBT one.
I wish I could give it a 5 star rating, but I struggled a bit with applying some concepts in the second part.
November 28, 2023
The book was not what I was expecting it to be, but I’m in no way disappointed I read it. Compared to a textbook it’s not as formal, instead it has more of a laid back style to it, nonetheless very informative. I actually found it helpful and enlightening beyond ocd and pure o. Written in a calming and welcoming way, it offered me knowledge and new perspectives about worrying, anxiety and thoughts in general. Above all it offered several great tools for how to handle anxiety related issues, often presented together with entertaining stories based on real experiences. Thank you for writing this book Chad!
January 24, 2024
The examples in this book are so helpful! The focus is to know your values, and act out of your values instead of your obsessive fears. The main example is a man who is a germaphobe, and believes that all of his things become contaminated if they are near anything gross and stops allowing people to enter his home because he is afraid that they will contaminate it, almost loses his relationship because he is afraid of changing in anyway, often has to throw away brand new clothes because they are contaminated. Focused on exposure to the disturbing thoughts and images, being able to laugh at these thoughts, and label them correctly, mindfulness, acceptance.
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