Invite the Anxiety: Wilson's Paradoxical Approach to OCD
Fighting or trying to suppress an obsession often amplifies it. Reid Wilson, PhD, a psychologist who has treated OCD since 1983, teaches a paradoxical self-help approach: deliberately invite the anxious feeling rather than resist it, which can paradoxically loosen its grip over time. This is a self-help complement to, never a replacement for, working with an ERP-trained clinician, especially for moderate-to-severe OCD.
Name the trigger and the urge to resist it
Naming the resistance urge, separately from the obsession itself, is the first step to changing your relationship to it.
Deliberately invite more of the feeling rather than pushing it away
Wilson's model holds that resistance is what feeds the obsession's power; deliberately inviting the feeling removes the fuel.
Let the urge to perform a compulsion rise and fall without acting on it
This is the same underlying principle as response prevention, delivered through an acceptance-based framing rather than a pure exposure-hierarchy framing.
Practice daily with small, deliberately chosen triggers first
Starting small builds the skill and confidence needed before tackling higher-stakes obsessions.
Treat this as a complement to, not a replacement for, clinician-directed ERP
Wilson's own materials present this as an accessible on-ramp and self-help tool, not a substitute for the gold-standard clinical treatment.
Reid Wilson, PhD, directs the Anxiety Disorders Treatment Center in Chapel Hill/Durham, NC, and has specialized in OCD and anxiety disorders since 1983. This page summarizes his self-help framing: resisting or suppressing an obsession functions like fighting quicksand, it makes the grip stronger. Deliberately inviting the anxious feeling, rather than resisting it, is a variant on classic acceptance-based exposure principles, presented here as an alternative on-ramp for people who bounce off a purely clinical ERP-only framing, not as a replacement for ERP itself.
Why it works▼
- Readers who bounce off a purely clinical, exposure-hierarchy-only framing
- Anyone whose anxiety intensifies the more they try to fight or suppress it
- People looking for a self-help on-ramp alongside, not instead of, ERP with a clinician
- Informational only, a self-help complement, not a diagnosis or treatment plan
- Not a replacement for Exposure and Response Prevention delivered by an ERP-trained clinician, especially for moderate-to-severe OCD
- Wilson sells self-help books and a paid course; this page draws only on his freely published, non-commercial content (anxieties.com)
- If you are in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US) or your local emergency services
How is 'inviting' the anxiety different from just giving up and letting OCD win?▾
Is this a replacement for ERP therapy?▾
Does Reid Wilson sell anything related to this?▾
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Not medical advice. This page is for education only and is not a substitute for professional medical care. Consult a qualified clinician before changing your health routine.
Independent curation. YourProtocol is an independent platform. This protocol is based on the publicly available work of Reid Wilson and is not created, reviewed, endorsed by, or affiliated with Reid Wilson or Anxiety Disorders Treatment Center · Chapel Hill/Durham, NC.