ERP for OCD Rumination

It's wildly uncomfortable, but it helps! I think of it as strength training for OCD. How I understand it:

Example rumination: "I embarrassed myself in that meeting because I chose one weird word, and now everyone thinks I'm a big old dummy."

What you say to yourself: Maybe I did embarrass myself and everyone thinks I'm dumb. But also, maybe I didn't. And you just sit in the anxiety of that "maybe" (you watch it, you really feel it (terrible)). It trains you to trust that you can handle the emotion.

Again, from how I understand it: OCD wants certainty. That's why you're ruminating. Your brain is trying to find evidence, over and over, so you can know the outcome. But you can't. So the trick is to get comfortable with being uncertain.