The Things You’re Doing to Feel Safe That May Be Keeping You Stuck in the Intrusive Thought Spiral

You have the scary thought.Then comes the Googling. The checking. The analyzing. The reassurance. The avoiding. The replaying.And for a little while, you might actually feel better.So why does the fear keep coming back?Today we’re diving into Step 2 of The Unafraid Method: RECOGNIZE.In this episode, we’re talking about the things you may be doing after an intrusive thought because they make you feel safer in the moment, but can become part of the cycle that keeps pulling you back into fear.We’ll talk about:Why reassurance can feel so good but never seem to lastThe difference between useful research and Googling for certaintyChecking your feelings, reactions, body sensations, and memoriesAvoidance and how fear can slowly start making your decisionsSneaky mental patterns like reviewing, analyzing, testing, and trying to prove a thought wrongHow prayer can sometimes become part of certainty-seeking without us realizing itHow to start recognizing your own patterns without judging yourselfA simple exercise to identify what you reach for when fear shows upI also answer a question I’ve been getting about how far postpartum you can be and still join Peace After Postpartum. If these struggles began during your postpartum season and you’re still actively navigating them, I don’t want you to automatically assume you’re “too far postpartum” for this to be relevant.Peace After Postpartum is my 90-day group program + community for moms navigating intrusive thoughts, anxiety, and OCD.If you want the founding member details, text PEACE to 404-692-3754 by August 31st. 🤍Next up: RESPOND — what do you actually do when the scary thought shows up?