Psychotherapist & Jungian analyst Gary Trosclair explores the perils & potentials
of the driven personality for compulsives and their loved ones–removing the disorder from Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD)
The Healthy Compulsive Project:
Healing OCPD & Taking the Wheel of the Driven Personality
Recent Blog Posts
Meditation for Type A personality, and people who are driven or obsessive-compulsive, might seem like a bridge too far. They might like the idea of the rewards of meditation, but they often find the process itself discouraging or even off-putting for a number of reasons. It might feel foreign to their nature and even contradictory to their principles. These hesitancies…
Read MoreEarth Day blew by recently so I started thinking about how spending time in Nature can help heal unhealthy compulsive tendencies. And it occurred to me, the activity we need the most is often the activity that we don’t bother doing. There’s an increasing amount of research which suggests that spending at least two hours each week engaging with nature…
Read MoreHow do I move past creative blocks? Many people get stuck and aren’t able to complete creative projects. But this can be particularly disturbing for people with obsessive-compulsive personality (OCP) and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). Because, as I see it, creativity springs from compulsion. There is something you need to do, but with a creative block you can’t. The word…
Read MoreLet’s take a break from formal clinical studies and approach the subject of compulsive perfectionism through the lens of Disney’s animated film Encanto. Encanto demonstrates the transformation from unhealthy compulsive to healthy compulsive at least as effectively as any medical description. A transformation that requires us to recall the original intent of perfectionism. And let’s not turn up our noses…
Read MoreIf you’re a Type A, driven, perfectionist, high-achieving, or obsessive-compulsive parent, you’re probably just as committed to great parenting as you are to achieving in other areas. What is Type A parenting like? Type A parenting, at the far end of a continuum, is characterized by urgency, assertiveness, and competitiveness. At the other end of the continuum there are possible…
Read MoreIt was another one of those nights. You dreamt you were going back to school, and not only were you supposed to take an exam you hadn’t studied for, you also couldn’t find your clothes. So now you’re thinking, why am I having anxiety dreams? In short, they bring our attention to things we’ve been trying to ignore, they help…
Read MoreLiving under the constant judgement of an overactive guilt complex can keep us from living a fulfilled life and even cause severe depression. But, first, what is a guilt complex? A healthy guilt complex (and yes, there is a such thing*) is a part of your psychology that helps you to take responsibility for mistakes you’ve made, and keeps you…
Read MoreNarcissistic personality disorder (NPD) and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) have some similarities that can make them difficult to distinguish. But they are fundamentally different and it’s important to recognize the differences in order to understand yourself or others. Typically, and greatly simplifying, while those with NPD typically need to feel special, those with OCPD need to escape accusations from themselves…
Read MoreBritt-Marie Was Here. So what? What difference does it make if a 63-year-old divorced woman with obvious psychological and interpersonal challenges shows up in a small, dying town? Lots. The author of Britt-Marie Was Here, Fredrik Backman, gave us a feel for what it’s like to be on the inside of the obsessive-compulsive personality in a previous novel, A Man…
Read MoreIn my last post I wrote about how people with obsessive and compulsive traits try to avoid anxiety by controlling the people and world around them. In this post I’ll focus on how they try to avoid anxiety by controlling themselves. This creates problems that are just as serious, such as repressing feelings, not even being aware of them, and…
Read MoreFeatured Blog Posts
Most people aren’t aware of a character style known as compulsive personality, separate from and different from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The lack of awareness is really unfortunate because people with unhealthy compulsive personality may have a condition (OCPD) which can…
As with many other subjects, Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung had a refreshingly creative take on compulsive behavior. Here are his two basic ideas: We have a deep, healthy, and compulsive urge to individuate, to develop our psychological potential. If that urge is…
Compulsive. It’s not the kind of trait that will get you a wink on a dating app. But let’s re-frame this: people who have a compulsive personality have a lot to feel good about–if they manage their energies well. Let’s…
Why A Compulsive Personality Blog? I love having a project. And ones that suit my nature such as a compulsive personality blog are especially gratifying. The Healthy Compulsive Project, a blog for people with obsessive and perfectionist personality traits, and…
A partner with OCPD (obsessive compulsive personality disorder), can be really difficult to live with. They usually aren’t aware how extreme their rigidity has become and are often convinced that they’re right all the time. Their perfectionistic, controlling and workaholic…
Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) As many as one in 12 people have this medical disorder without knowing it. In fact, while it’s prevalent and well established as a diagnostic category, it is one of the least recognized by the public. …
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Recent Posts
- Meditation for Type A Personality: An Interview with Teacher George Chen May 15, 2022
- 7 Ways Spending Time in Nature Heals the Driven Personality May 8, 2022
- 4 Tools to Help Obsessives Move Past Creative Blocks March 22, 2022
- Disney’s Encanto: Recalling The Intent of Perfectionism March 12, 2022
- 5 Unintended Effects of Type A Parenting February 19, 2022
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