In I-CBT, clients learn the following:

• Understand that OCD follows a predictable sequence, beginning with an intrusive doubt and progressing through reasoning distortions that feel real and urgent.

• Recognize that people with OCD have logical reasons for their doubts—the problem lies not in the reasoning itself, but in how these reasons are misapplied to the present moment through the obsessional reasoning process.

• Learn how OCD builds a convincing story that seems coherent but is disconnected from direct, sensory reality.

• Identify your Feared Possible Self—the person you’re afraid of being—and understand how this fear drives the specific doubts and obsessions you experience.

• Distinguish between reasonable and obsessional doubts, using direct sensory evidence to anchor your reasoning in reality.

• Explore the concept that possibility does not equal relevance—just because something could happen doesn’t mean it’s meaningful without evidence from the senses.

• Understand why OCD narratives feel so real, even in the absence of sensory confirmation.

• Learn strategies to rebuild trust in your senses and ground yourself in what is verifiable in the here and now.

• Practice shifting attention from OCD’s story to the narrative of reality, guided by sensory evidence and lived experience.

• Identify the specific reasoning traps OCD uses to make its story seem logical or evidence-based.

• Clarify the difference between who you are in reality and the distorted image of yourself created by your Feared Possible Self.

• Develop a relapse prevention plan that reinforces confidence in your reasoning, sensory trust, and reality-based thinking.