Create a Loop Tape of Brief Obsession

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Self-Help Practice 5:
Create a Loop Tape of Brief Obsessions

What to do During Obsessing

If your obsessive thoughts take the form of a word, a group of words, a sentence, or block of sentences that is repeated again and again, you might benefit from the use of a loop tape.

Loop tapes vary in length from ten seconds to three minutes and are often used to record outgoing messages on a telephone answering machine. When the tape if left running, it will play the same message continuously.

To practice this technique, write down the sentence or narrative exactly as it comes spontaneously into your mind. Then record it on an appropriate length of loop tape. Listen to the tape for forty-five minutes or longer each day. While listening to the tape, try to become as anxious and distressed as possible. Just as with Daily Worry Time, becoming distressed is one of the most important components of this technique. Use the tape daily until the content of the message no longer distresses you. Even if your discomfort decreases within a few days, continue the practice for at least a week.

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This tape practice works on the principle called habituation. This simply means that when you confront your fears and your discomfort simultaneously and continually, you will become less anxious. That's why I ask you to persist in your practice every day for such a long period, and, while you're listening, to become as distressed as possible.

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Self-Help Practice 5: Create a Loop Tape of Brief Obsessions

Self-Help Practice 5:
Create a Loop Tape of Brief Obsessions