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The Healthy Compulsive Project: Help for OCPD, Workaholics, Obsessives, & Type A PersonalityThe Healthy Compulsive Project: Help for OCPD, Workaholics, Obsessives, & Type A Personality
The Healthy Compulsive Project
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The Healthy Compulsive Project:

Healing OCPD & Taking the Wheel of the Driven Personality

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)

Recent Blog Posts

Gratification
April 30, 2023

Some people just don’t know when to have a good time.  They habitually put off pleasure with the hope that they’ll get a greater reward later, and in the process they condition themselves not to enjoy anything. Contentment becomes scarcer than Ben and Jerry’s Dulce de Leche ice cream in hell. I call this chronic delay of gratification. It’s addictive,…

Read More
What, Exactly, Do They Want From You? How The Demand Sensitivity Lens Mucks Up Our Lives
April 2, 2023

Some time ago I came across the concept of demand sensitivity, a psychological lens which magnifies, in your imagination, what other people insist you do. On a scale of one to ten, you might perceive that they’re insisting on a nine when really they just have a three in mind. The lens of demand sensitivity can also cause total illusions,…

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There Will Be Roosters: A Personal Story about Obsessing
March 3, 2023

Obsessing occurs when the capacity to focus and solve a problem by thinking runs into an emotional obstacle, a feeling we don’t want to face. The thinking process gets derailed and stuck in recurring loops. Here’s an example of this happening to me and how I handled it. *   *   * It’s four a.m. on the first morning of my…

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What Happens When a Compulsive Meets the Archetype of the Saint
February 19, 2023

This is the first of an occasional series on the relationship between archetypes and the obsessive-compulsive personality (OCP). Given the adamant nature of those with OCP, terrific or terrible things can happen when the two collide. OCP infuses just about any archetype with steroids. Such is the case with the archetype of the saint. What is an Archetype? Archetypes are…

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How to Know if You’re Being Passive-Aggressive
February 4, 2023

How do we know when we’re being passive-aggressive? Because we might see our behavior as justified, innocent or even polite, we often aren’t aware when we’re doing it. After all, passive-aggressive behavior is defined by not doing something. “Hey, I’m not doing anything!” Yeah, and that’s the problem. Whether we’re aware of it or not, most of us try to…

Read More
The Unconscious Misuse of Punishment
January 29, 2023

Honk…Honk….HOOOOONK! You’ve seen it too many times. Someone tries to get away with driving badly so someone else decides to set them straight with their horn. “I’ll teach him!” Since the Bad Driver has violated the rules, the “Good” Driver feels the need to make sure they know they can’t get away with it. The honking is rationalized as an…

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Why Compulsives Need Mastery in Their Lives
January 14, 2023

In my last post I harped about the importance of people with obsessive-compulsive personality consciously choosing their priorities. Today I’ll harp about one aspect of life that you may need to put near the top of that priority list: mastery, the experience of succeeding at rewarding challenges. Well, that’s dorky. You were hoping I’d say a steamy sex life? Maybe…

Read More
OCPD: A Disorder of Priorities
December 31, 2022

Since we’re beginning a new year, I thought it might be a good time to step back and look at the big picture. What’s most important and what are our priorities? This is especially crucial for people with obsessive-compulsive personalities, whose real values can get lost when their temperament collides with psychological challenges. In my initial consultation with new clients…

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What Is Shame and What’s the Best Way to Deal With It?
December 10, 2022

I recently posted about the benefits of self-compassion in lowering the depression that perfectionism causes. But if you experience shame, it can block self-compassion and lead to depression. Yet trying to avoid shame is often what motivates people to use to use potentially healthy tendencies in an unhealthy way. More on that in a moment, but first, what is shame?…

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Self-Compassion: The Evidenced-Based Antidote to Maladaptive Perfectionism
November 5, 2022

Imagine two perfectionists. When Estella feels that she’s fallen short of her standards, she puts more pressure on herself to succeed. She tries to raise her self-esteem through more success. Coco, on the other hand, deals with falling short of her perfectionistic standards by comforting herself with compassion, and remembering that it’s just her humanity kicking in. These are two…

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Featured Blog Posts

difference between OCD and OCPD

What is the difference between OCD and OCPD (compulsive personality)?

Your colleague Mitch works very late hours, insists on perfection in team documents, and can get overwrought at meetings, telling people how they should do things. He needs to have things a certain way and can’t tolerate it if he…

May 18, 2018Read More
Jung compulsive

Carl Jung on the Compulsive Urge to Individuate

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…

May 19, 2018Read More
compulsive exercise

Compulsive Personality: A New and Positive Perspective

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…

May 30, 2018Read More
compulsive personality blog

The Healthy Compulsive Project: Taking the Wheel of the Driven Personality

Why A Compulsive Personality Blog? It’s hard to stop. Stop working, thinking, perfecting, controlling, planning and doing. This drive can be tormenting. But it can also be fulfilling–both the doing and the finishing.  What determines whether it’s tormenting or fulfilling?…

May 31, 2018Read More
partner with OCPD

How to Get Along With a Partner With OCPD (Compulsive Personality)

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…

June 20, 2018Read More
obsessive-compulsive personality disorder

How Do I Know If I Have Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder? And So What If I Do?

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.  …

September 16, 2018Read More
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Recent Posts

  • Gratification April 30, 2023
  • What, Exactly, Do They Want From You? How The Demand Sensitivity Lens Mucks Up Our Lives April 2, 2023
  • There Will Be Roosters: A Personal Story about Obsessing March 3, 2023
  • What Happens When a Compulsive Meets the Archetype of the Saint February 19, 2023
  • How to Know if You’re Being Passive-Aggressive February 4, 2023

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