Before going to OCD support group I used to think that I was helping my husband by avoiding things/places that were uncomfortable for him.  I used to reassure his thoughts and feelings no matter how irrational they seemed at the time.  My goal was to take away the uncomfortable, anxious, and often times scary thoughts he had on a daily basis.

I now know 100% without a doubt that I was a contributor to his illness.  OCD support group has helped me to realize how my behavior has affected my husband in a negative way and has caused his OCD to grow.  I now have the tools to TRULY help my husband stand up to the terrible thoughts and feelings he has and I have learned the many, many nuances of his particular OCD.  My role has shifted…no longer am I an enabler!  Without OCD support group and without Gregg, I would be stuck enabling and feeding my husband’s OCD.  The tools and knowledge I have gained in a relatively short period of time has changed our lives and I am a better person for my husband, myself and everyone around me.

My name is Donna. I have always been a worrier. When I was about 30 I was hospitalized for 2 weeks and they said I had a nervous breakdown. I was seeing a psychiatrist and psychologist. The psychiatrist said I should quit my job as nurse, which I loved, and stay home and raise my two kids. That was a big mistake. It took me about 2 years to get my strength together and go back to what I loved. My husband always said I got better in spite of the psychiatrist.

When I look back, the medical field knew nothing about general anxiety disorder or OCD. Throughout the years I’ve done pretty good until about a year ago. I started seeing a different psychiatrist and psychologist. It was my psychologist that diagnosed OCD. She also asked me if I would be interested in a support group. I said sure. That is when I met Gregg Sansone. I finally met someone who knew what I was going through. He is kind, understanding, and yet tough. This is what I needed. We don’t need people to feel sorry for us and we don’t need to have a pity party. I have learned from Gregg that people with OCD are like soldiers. It can feel like HELL but we must keep going. We have to face our fears everyday and continue to keep moving our feet. I have learned so much about OCD through Gregg. 
I never realized it was all about needing to feel certain about everything. We have to learn that being unsure is the cure. And believe me it takes work everyday but I know from Gregg that our lives are worth it. I have learned that you have to feel it to beat it! It’s the only way! No doctor ever told me that. They just gave me Ativan. I am proud to say that when I feel fear and anxiety now I just let it be there and burn itself out or do an exposure. I have called Gregg on the weekends feeling awful and he has helped me write up an exposure. He’s also taught me how to actually do an exposure. I’ve learned you have to give the exposure some real time and true effort. I always come home from Gregg’s support group feeling great.

I know now that the feeling can’t hurt me. It’s like the bully on the playground. If you face your fears they will go away and they have. I admire how much time and compassion Gregg gives to everyone in the group. I know I feel better today because of Gregg. You have to understand OCD to beat it and that’s what I’ve learnt from Gregg. I hope someday I can make a difference in other peoples lives like he has. I know by staying busy it just might happen.

I’ll have to say that having OCD in my life has been no picnic, or walk in the park. There have been times, a lot of times, in the last 8 years, I have felt as if I am at the end of my rope, dredging through a minefield of unwanted obsessive thoughts and the compulsions. Not resting until I made things “just right”, or having a sudden feeling that making the next phone call, or eating the rest of my meal was almost an impossible thing to do. I obeyed the call of OCD’s “voice” for many years, until the day I got someone on my side who could really help. For years, I searched and found no one. There was no help from anyone who knew firsthand about OCD’s tenacious grip, until I met Gregg Sansone.

During my consultation with Gregg, I went through the routine of giving examples of my symptoms, and man, did I have that routine down! But his response was different than the other therapists. He was right there in the trenches with me, describing what was going on in my head even before I could. It was a new day! I began to feel empowered, like I could be in charge, be the boss (Gregg’s words), and trust that what he was saying was hitting home. Why did I trust that what he was saying was the real deal? After all, I’d discussed my problem with many psychiatrists and counselors in the past, many of them friends I’d made in my travels around the country as a professional musician. It took meeting someone who had more conviction and analytical reasoning than OCD itself, to make the difference in my outlook toward recovery.

OCD’s “voice” can be very clever and insistent. That “voice” began for me in the tenth grade. Trying to fix little inconsequential things, or to repeat a certain thought, all in a “perfect” way. I suspected my friends in school didn’t have these thoughts, and boy did I feel like the Lone Ranger. I’d be miserable for a few months and then things would get better, only to return with a vengeance later. Then, after a few more OCD occurrences mixed with feeling pretty much OK, came the year of the big crash, in 1999. This time it wasn’t what the compulsions insisted for me TO do, but what they insisted I NOT do. I was compelled to not walk around the block, not sit in certain chairs, not eat all my meal, and hundreds of other limits all day. It was OCD boot camp- a living nightmare.

Eventually things got better once again, but returned with less intensity in 2004, continuing off and on, until I was so debilitated I began to tell more friends about what was happening, which led me to Gregg. Gregg Sansone is like a warrior who has fought his own battles with OCD, so he’s been there. He knows where I am. He’s an amiable, funny guy who can have all of us in the group session laughing, but when it comes to the real showdown with OCD, court is in session and the perpetrator IS going to jail, and we are the jailers. It’s been hard work, but good work.  Now after just a few sessions, Gregg Sansone seems like an old friend. Maybe that’s because we’ve been down the same road, more than just a few times.

My initial impressions of Gregg were very positive. He was facilitating a weekly OCD group called “Show Me OCD”. There were approximately 20 attendees that evening and I recall how he acknowledged and welcomed each one with sincere enthusiasm. His willingness to be transparent about his own struggles with OCD was a pleasant surprise and gave me courage to begin to share in the group. I feel sure it helped others to open up, as well. Gregg maintained this manner of welcoming people for the two years I participated. He knew himself well and had significant knowledge of OCD and anxiety, and talked about the facts each meeting. His willingness to offer help to attendees was exemplary, appreciated, and praised the recipients. His passion for helping others who struggle with OCD is clearly evident. Attendees benefitted greatly from the various books, mental health professionals, and behavioral theories he shared.

I would readily recommend him to anyone who is serious about learning to live with OCD.

My name is Carter Morris and I am sixteen years old. For almost two years now I have had to live with severe OCD. It made me petrified by the things I deemed “dirty.” Every time I come home I had to take a shower that would be at least an hour long. I would use so much hand sanitizer that my hands would get chemical burns whenever I applied it. I could not open doors for myself, or shake the hand of new acquaintance, I couldn’t even hug my own grandmother. The episodes of extreme anxiety attacks and overall angst of the disorder made my life miserable, so much so that I had to be institutionalized twice.

It seemed there was no hope for me. My parents paid for an expensive therapy regiment that only served to worsen my OCD. I had seen countless therapists and had counseling every week, but it was to no avail. In my hour of need I came to Gregg. Within weeks I was doing exponentially better than I had since the onset of the OCD. Honestly, the first word that comes to mind whenever I think about it is “miraculous.” On occasion I will still have anxiety breakdowns but they seem like a dream when compared to the nightmares I had experienced before. Gregg saved me from having to live in a plastic bubble my entire life (both metaphorically and literally).

What Gregg says might not be what you want to hear, but I can attest that it is what you need to hear. Gregg’s “therapy” has helped me more than any person with a doctorate degree. After my experiences with Gregg I can function as a normal person. I can shake hands with a person I just met, I can open doors around the house, I don’t carry a bottle of hand sanitizer everywhere I go, and I hugged my grandma for the first time in over a year. Without Gregg I would be hiding in my room, not even willing to venture out into the “dirty” world. Without Gregg I don’t know if I would ever gotten over my crippling anxieties. Greggory Sansone is quite literally a lifesaver, and a godsend for those facing problems like mine.

Gregg has shared a far more powerful way to live life.  Before connecting with Gregg, I was floating through life on auto-pilot  (barely getting by) with OCD.  I am now in the process of challenging some of my greatest fears and living life more on my own terms.  I am confident that my OCD will keep getting easier to manage with Gregg’s support.  I now look forward to meeting tomorrow’s challenges and demands, because I am better equipped to handle whatever comes my way today.

Our son is 8 years old and in second grade. It was early in his second grade year that we started experiencing issues. He began to worry about things related to school. No matter how much we tried to ease his worry, it wouldn’t satisfy him. His worry would continue or he would go onto another worry. This became such an issue that it changed his personality. He started experiencing signs of depression. He wanted to be with his mother or me all the time. Sleeping with us and going with us anywhere we went. Dropping him off at school became a huge problem. He would cry and beg to not go. Teachers would have to restrain him as we left. This went on for months. Thankfully his school was very supportive. His mother and I were at a loss. The son we once knew was slipping away. We started thinking of taking him out off school, possibly even home schooling him. It consumed our lives and our time, totally. He was a happy, energetic, athletic, fun boy. He loved to play outside and do things that every 8-year-old boy likes to do. That was all changing before our eyes. He would worry about going on vacation because of things that would be happening at school while he was out of town. He would worry about next year or the year after or even high school.

We tried various therapist and psychiatrist, but they weren’t working. Our son wasn’t responding. We finally found Gregg. He truly was a Godsend. Within the first visit or two with Gregg, we knew we were with the right person. Gregg is very likeable and relates very well to kids. They are drawn to him. Our son was no different. Gregg provided real world coaching and guidance on a daily basis. Literally, he came every day to work with our son. No other professional we met with or spoke to had this type of accessibility. We didn’t have to wait weeks for an appointment. Gregg was available, aggressive and compassionate. He provided tips and techniques that our son could use on a daily basis to deal with his worry.

The sessions became fun or our son. He looked forward to his meetings with Gregg and worked hard on the strategies and techniques Gregg provided. Gregg didn’t just work with our son; he provided his mother and me with strategies and tools to help reinforce his work. It was difficult as parents because some of the techniques were “tough love” strategies. It’s difficult when your child is hurting to not want to do whatever you can to take that hurt away. Gregg knows that and wants as much as you do to take the hurt away so we listened to him and did what he suggested. Within weeks our son was doing so much better and within months was 100%. He is completely himself again. No issues with going to school and no more worry! We could not give anyone a higher recommendation than Gregg. He is outstanding and knows his business. I hate to think of where we would be if it were not for Gregg. He is the best in the industry. I have no doubt. We are thankful beyond words for Gregg.​

I cannot speak highly enough of Greg Sansone’s knowledge, delivery and passion for helping those plagued by OCD and anxiety.  My 15 year old son reached a point of near breakdown as he fell into a hole of anxiety and OCD.  Greg came to our home immediately with one phone call. He knew how to question without being aggressive and listened to my son’s answers very carefully.  Greg dug deeply, layer upon layer, to find the root of what was going on. Greg’s brutal struggle with OCD in his own life is beyond priceless as he walks  aside the people he is helping.  This experience and  knowledge makes Greg very real, very understanding and so very, very passionate about helping others.  He exercises listening, offers tremendous help without end,  but also keeps the tough love component that is needed to get through this journey. Greg is not a counselor who is trained to help someone through the process, Greg has walked in these shoes in every way imaginable.  He knows much about what the individual is feeling and experiencing before they even say it….and Greg has help and answers.

Gregg Sansone’s OCD Support Group has given me back my life. I will always be battling OCD but Gregg has given me the information, tools and motivation to beat OCD. OCD will not control my life anymore! Thank you Gregg Sansone!