If you work with neurodivergents/complex-PTSD, please get trained in OCD and learn how to work with it
As the title reads. I feel like I need to give a PSA. End of last year, I was seeing yet another client who was struggling with the idea that they are bad. We were going over it again and again. I was like geez this looks SO much like OCD but not what I would imagine OCD looks like, and they do have ADHD so I mean, it's probably not OCD. But idk let's look. So I quickly googled "feeling like you're a bad person OCD" and I learned about Moral Scrupulosity OCD. I then learned it's a really common form of OCD in neurodivergent people. Then I learned that there's actually an insane comorbidity between OCD and attachment trauma. And what do most late diagnosed individuals have? Attachment trauma. I also learned that OCD is not actually an anxiety disorder, it's a neurobiological disorder that causes your brain to not be able to sit with uncertainty. So over the last few months I've been screening more intently with my clients, and nearly half of my caseload meets criteria for OCD. I have also learned during all this time I've been researching, that most individuals experience OCD for 15-17 years before they're finally diagnosed, because of the lack of education and resources that we've had for OCD. Which is why it can be hard for even client's to notice that they're struggling, because they just feel like that's how "their brain works" which it does, but it's not the same type of "just working that way" like ADHD or Autism. Kind of rambling, but I have a client who I proposed relational ocd to today and it was like 15 years of deep struggle clicked for her. I think it's just so important for us to be doing or due diligence if we work with this population!!
Posted Jul 10, 2026, 6:01 PM UTC