Examples Of SMART Goals For Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Intro to OCD

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health disorder that – as the name suggests – revolve around obsessions and compulsions.

Obsessions are intrusive thoughts, images, or urges, and can span a number of different themes. For example, there can be obsessions related to doubt (“did I leave the stove on?”), contamination (“my hands are dirty”), and morals (“I must be a bad person because I thought about hurting someone”), among many others.

Importantly, these obsessions are ego-dystonic, meaning that they cause people distress because they feel contrary to their values. For example, intrusive images of harming someone causes distress because the person does not feel this is consistent with their perceptions of being a kind person.

The distress that comes from obsessions lead to compulsions, which are specific behaviours or thoughts that help reduce anxiety or neutralize a fear. For example, a person might wash their hands in contamination OCD, check constantly in doubting OCD, or think positive images in moral OCD.

Research supported treatments for OCD

The treatment that has received the most research supporting its efficacy in treating OCD is exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP). At its core, ERP is about exposing ourselves to the obsession without engaging in the compulsion that we would normally perform. This helps our brain recognize that nothing will go wrong, and that we can handle the distress, which helps us reduce distress in the long-term.

In the example of contamination OCD, we might get ‘dirty’ but not clean ourselves or certain objects. In the example of doubt OCD, we might limit our checking when we go outside, and tolerate the uncertainty that comes from worrying whether the stove is closed or if the door is indeed locked.

SMART goals in exposure and response prevention therapy

SMART goals are a way to make actionable plans towards working on your OCD symptoms. Here’s a detailed guide on SMART goals if you’re interested.

Essentially, SMART goals stand for:

S – Specific (the goal needs to be specific, for example how long and for how many times we are doing something)
M – Measurable (we can measure our distress levels before and after the exercise, such as from 0 = no distress at all to 100 = extremely distressed)
A – Achievable (We wouldn’t start with a marathon if we have not run in the past decade. This is a moving goal post, so you can increase difficulty as you work on your OCD symptoms)
R – Relevant (Is this related to our goal? If we have contamination-based OCD, then we would want to work on tolerating our distress of feeling that we are dirty after touching something deemed contaminated)
T – Timebound (We need to set a time limit. For example, practicing something three times a week).

Examples of SMART goals in OCD

Here are some examples of SMART goals for different types of OCD. These are just made-up examples so you get the jist, so you are more than welcome to amend the goals so that they are specific to your life!

Contamination OCD

Wash hands for only 30 seconds with one pump of soap
Take a shower in 20 minutes with an alarm and only wash each part of the body once
Clean the sheets once a week
Sit with feelings with contamination for 20 minutes a day and rate distress before and after the practice

Doubt OCD

Check each appliance once and then leave the house
Go for a 30 minute walk without checking at all
Check the door knob 10 times instead of 15 times

Moral OCD

Watch an episode of true crime a day
Sit with a negative image for 10 minutes and then rate distress before and after
Be around people and speak to them at least three times a day

Symmetry OCD

Intentionally mess up something (e.g., puzzles, laundry) once a day and leave it in a mess until the next day
Look at something that is asymmetrical for 15 minutes and then rate distress before and after

Thought-Action Fusion OCD

Think something a person having an accident once a day to see if anything terrible happens to them. *If you’re worried something really bad might actually happen, and you’re worried about hurting your friends and family, you can think of somebody you don’t like. Actually, you can even think about me. If you don’t see a post in this website for several months, you’ll know it worked.

Summary

Of course, your OCD symptoms may be different from the ones discussed here. Hopefully, this post offers some guiding ideas on how to apply SMART goals to OCD!

Best wishes,