Compulsions often reflect deeply held personal values and goals (e.g., to be a good parent, a good person, a reliable trustworthy person, a moral person, etc.), which is a key reason they develop and persist. They become problematic when they conflict with other deeply held values and goals. For example, “Kiran” deeply values the protection of vulnerable creatures, and as a loving owner of a cat wants to ensure her cat is safe in her care. Kiran also values being a reliable, conscientious co-worker/employee. Before leaving the house for the day Kiran wants to ensure that the environment is safe for her cat and has developed lengthy and repetitive checking routines before she feels she can leave the house. However, these routines often make her late for work, and she can become very distracted at work by the need to review her memory for the routines to satisfy herself that her cat is safe. Kiran thus seeks help for her compulsions. When her therapist introduces the idea of exposure she feels as if she has to give up being caring in order to be conscientious; that is, that she can have her OCD or all her values, but not both. In this talk I will explore the moral conflict people might feel about doing exposure and new ways of thinking about its morality.

Professor Christine Purdon
Dr. Purdon is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo in Canada and is a Registered Psychologist. She has been studying and treating obsessions and compulsions for over two decades. Dr. Purdon has published 90+ research articles and book chapters on understanding and treating OCD. She and Dr. David A. Clark’s self-help book, Overcoming Obsessive Thoughts, addresses repugnant obsessions which has sold over 50,000 copies.