Navigating the Tangle of ADHD and OCD with Natalia Aiza

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Jan 27, 2025

In this enlightening discussion, Natalia Aiza, a multilingual counselor and OCD specialist, shares her expertise as the founder of Kairos Wellness Collective. She dives into the intricate interplay between ADHD and OCD, highlighting their overlapping symptoms and unique challenges. Natalia distinguishes ADHD distractions from OCD compulsions, offering insights into effective treatment strategies. Personal anecdotes illuminate the impact of anxiety and perfectionism, empowering listeners to embrace imperfection and seek proper support in their journey.

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INSIGHT

OCD: A Cycle of Intrusive Thoughts and Compulsions

OCD is a cycle of intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and actions to neutralize them (compulsions).
Unlike simply disliking something, OCD involves a strong emotional urge (ick) to perform compulsions.

INSIGHT

Distinct Treatment Approaches for OCD and ADHD

Treating OCD requires a different approach than ADHD; some ADHD treatments can worsen OCD.
Self-soothing, helpful in ADHD, reinforces OCD's core fear.

INSIGHT

OCD Diagnosis and Overlapping Symptoms with ADHD

An OCD expert is often needed for accurate diagnosis, as OCD is frequently misdiagnosed as GAD.
OCD can cause attentional issues, mimicking ADHD, but stems from executive function overload.

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Hey Team!

In this episode, I’m thrilled to welcome Natalia Aíza, a multilingual counselor and OCD specialist.

Natalia is the founder and executive director of Kairos Wellness Collective, a therapy center that focuses on holistic care for clients experiencing OCD and Anxiety - located in Boulder, Colorado. They offer therapies including Exposure Response Prevention (ERP), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Play Therapy, Art Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Neurofeedback. Obviously, we won’t get into all of that in our conversation today, but we do hit on a few of those.

Also, separately, I wanted to mention that Kairos is the Greek word meaning “the perfect, delicate, crucial moment; the fleeting rightness of time and place that creates the opportune atmosphere for action, words or movement; also weather.” And really, I just wanted to share that because I love words like that - I just find them neat.

Anyway, in our conversation today, we dive into the overlap of ADHD and OCD - how they are similar and how they differ, and also the unique challenges each presents, especially when they are co-occurring. Natalia shares her personal and professional insights on distinguishing between ADHD distractions and OCD compulsions and how to approach treatment for each.

If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at HackingYourADHD.com/209

Also before we get started, I wanted to let you know about my AMA on YouTube Live, happening the week this is released on January 31st at 10 AM Pacific - if you’re interested you can find that on the Hacking Your ADHD YouTube page, youtube.com/@hackingyouradhd and subscribe to the channel - or if you want to submit a question ahead of time you can do so at hackingyouradhd.com/ama

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This Episode's Top Tips

1. It’s important to remember that you need to approach OCD and ADHD treatments differently; techniques beneficial for one may exacerbate the other.
2. Try to distinguish between compulsions and simple fidgets or stims—while symptoms can be similar, it’s essential to understand the root causes that characterize compulsions.
3. Be proactive in seeking diagnosis and treatment if OCD symptoms appear; early intervention can prevent the condition from worsening.