These are many and varied, from washing the hands frequently to having to go back and forth through a doorway a set number of times. These behaviours take up a vast amount of time and leave people with a very limited life.

Compulsive Behaviours are unconsciously created to provide a sense of safety, or more accurately, an illusion of safety. It is something like a small child who places his Teddy Bear and Action Man at the foot of his bed to keep an abuser away. It doesn't work, but it seems like a comfort to 'do' something. When the plan doesn't work and the bad thing happens, as long as the child can blame himself, ('I didn't get the Action Man in the right place' or 'I should have had my Incredible Hulk man there too'), he then has the illusion of safety - 'If I get it right I can be safe'. The reality is too terrifying to face - that there is nothing that can actually keep him safe in a dysfunctional family.

This childhood strategy unconsciously carries on into adult life and various and sundry behaviours will be repeated in an attempt to feel safe. Seldom do people know why they are doing the behaviour and it can be very surprising for them to learn it is a childhood safety strategy that has mutated and gone past its sell by date, but at the same time it will help make sense of their life.

PICT therapists utilise the main resolution technique, Trauma Resolution Experience (TRE), to address the feelings running the behaviour, which will in turn release the need for the illusion of safety.