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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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codependent
09 Jun
0

Codependency Is a Powerful Glue — Here’s How to Break Free

Posted by Gary Trosclair No Comments

Why do driven, high-functioning people sometimes find themselves trapped in codependency — bound to others in ways that feel obsessive, compulsive, and impossible to escape? In this episode, psychotherapist and Jungian analyst Gary Trosclair explores the hidden connection between compulsive personality types and codependent relationship patterns. Drawing on attachment theory and Jungian psychology, Gary breaks down how the four compulsive types — the Mentor-Boss, the People-Pleaser, the Workaholic, and the Overthinker — each fall into codependent relationships in their own distinct ways. You’ll learn how popular culture romanticizes dependency, how your attachment style shapes your relationship habits, and why interdependence — not codependence — is the healthier model for lasting love.

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willpower
26 May
0

Why You Can’t Stop Using Willpower–Even After It Drains You

Posted by Gary Trosclair 2 Comments

Have you ever wondered why high-functioning, driven people struggle with willpower depletion, pushing themselves long after the tank is empty? In this video, psychotherapist Gary Trosclair explores the hidden costs of overusing willpower and why self-control—though powerful—can become destructive when it loses contact with the body, emotion, and personal values. We’ll dive into the psychology of self control to understand how rigid ideas of strength, externally driven perfectionism, and fear-based motivation trap people in cycles of ego depletion. You’ll learn a healthier, more sustainable alternative: a flexible definition of strength that works from desire rather than constant pressure.

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alexithymia
14 May
2

Can’t Identify Your Feelings? You Might Have Alexithymia—The Unspeaking Heart

Posted by Gary Trosclair No Comments

Alexithymia, difficulty in knowing what you feel and articulating it, is the partly result of an emotional strategy that no longer works.  It’s an aspect of your personality that had had a purpose but now needs balancing. Because, while its original intent was to prevent suffering, it now causes suffering. Let’s not put salt on the wound.

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how to change
29 Apr
4

6 Reasons Perfectionists Struggle With Change

Posted by Gary Trosclair No Comments

For people who are stubbornly perfectionistic, obsessive and compulsive, change can be hard to come by. Particular personality traits that can be positive can also manifest negatively. In this post we explore six of the main blocks to change, including, avoidance motivation, impatience, magnifying difficulties, unrealistic goals, being too cerebral, and clinging to the safe benefits of old ways.

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old soul
01 Apr
4

Break Free from the “Shoulds”: How Old Soul and Young Soul Archetypes Can Run Your Life

Posted by Gary Trosclair No Comments

Act your age. It’s a command we usually aim at brats who want to stay […]

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risk averse
10 Mar
3

Your Outdated, Risk Averse Comfort Zone Is a Prison — Chuck It

Posted by Gary Trosclair No Comments

Risk aversion evolved to protect us from predators and starvation. But in modern life, those same strategies often backfire. This essay traces the evolutionary roots of risk avoidance, its reinforcement through early family environments, and its expression in obsessive‑compulsive personality styles—revealing how ancient survival tactics undermine meaning, creativity, and desire today.

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ocpd diagnosis
24 Feb
3

5 Steps to Respond to an OCPD Diagnosis

Posted by Gary Trosclair 3 Comments

A recent OCPD diagnosis can feel overwhelming, but change is possible. Using the RAILS framework—Respect yourself, Acknowledge the costs of maladaptive perfectionism, Identify protective strategies, Let go and feel, and Set priorities—you can begin shifting from rigid, unhealthy patterns toward a healthier, more flexible obsessive‑compulsive personality.

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Dog's view of OCPD
17 Feb
0

A Dog’s Eye View of OCPD

Posted by Gary Trosclair No Comments

Humfrey the Husky dishes out canine wisdom and humorous observations about living with a human who has OCPD, showing how dogs can sniff out our emotional blind spots better than we can. We can all benefit from a dog’s eye view of OCPD.

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waking up
10 Feb
3

Waking Up from the Strange Comfort of the Obsessive-Compulsive Dream

Posted by Gary Trosclair 1 Comment

The metaphor of being taken over in The Matrix is particularly apt for those with obsessive-compulsive personality, which has been compared to a “living machine” because it can be very mechanical. There’s good reason why there are so many stories of machines taking over. And it’s not just about AI and computers. They describe what can, and often does, happen inside of us.
The machine that’s draining your energy is inside of you, not outside.

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projection
17 Jan
1

Marriage Is Not for Sissies: Courage, Projection, and Projective Identification

Posted by Gary Trosclair No Comments

It takes courage to make a marriage work. The courage to admit you’re wrong. The courage to say you’re right. The courage to take chances in communication, generosity and vulnerability. And most of all, the courage to objectively look at what’s happening emotionally inside of us. This post explores projection and projective identification, two psychological processes that can make or break a relationship.

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Recent Posts

  • Codependency Is a Powerful Glue — Here’s How to Break Free June 9, 2026
  • Why You Can’t Stop Using Willpower–Even After It Drains You May 26, 2026
  • Can’t Identify Your Feelings? You Might Have Alexithymia—The Unspeaking Heart May 14, 2026
  • 6 Reasons Perfectionists Struggle With Change April 29, 2026
  • Break Free from the “Shoulds”: How Old Soul and Young Soul Archetypes Can Run Your Life April 1, 2026

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If you’d like to use your time in psychotherapy more effectively, check out my book on therapy.

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As much as 13% of the population has alexithymia, difficulty in knowing and saying what you feel. Perhaps better expressed as the unspeaking heart. And it's especially common in people with obsessive. e-compulsive personality traits. Learn more about causes, results and solutions at the Healthy Compulsive Project Podcast.
The most common dream I've seen in my 35 years of practice as a psychotherapist and Jungian psychoanalyst is the the exam anxiety dream--dreaming that you're back in school and unprepared for an exam. What's this about? #dreams #anxiety #Jung #ocpd #obsessive-compulsive Find out more at www.thehealthycompulsive.com
Anxiety is simply unnamed fear. Take it deeper, name the fear, and, while it may not disappear, it will not rule your life. Find out more by listening to The Healthy Compulsive Project Podcast episode 49. #anxiety #fear #OCPD #obsessive #compulsive
Letting go may be one the moist important skills we have to learn, but no one teaches us how. For more, check out Episode 41 of The Healthy Compulsive Project Podcast. #lettinggo
For more insights on how be a better partner, or how to deal with a difficult partner, especially those who are rigid, controlling and perfectionistic, visit thehealthycompulsive.com #perfectionist #difficultpartner #relationships #maritaldiscord #OCPD #OCD #obsessivecompulsive
To perfect originally meant to complete a meaningful task. Until the theologians got hold of it in the 14th century and added shame. Learn more at www.thehealthycompulsive.com. Search for "adaptive perfectionism." #perfection #perfectionism #OCPD #OCD #Jung #obsessivecompulsive #goals

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© 2026 · Gary Trosclair, The Healthy Compulsive Project

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