Cognitive Behavioral Therapy & Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy
There are types of therapy specifically designed to break the compulsions that people with OCD experience that are just as effective for treating OCD as medications. One specific type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is called exposure and response prevention (ERP). CBT works by identifying, challenging, and modifying the thoughts and beliefs that cause these problems.[1]
ERP therapy is used to lessen fears and anxieties and works particularly well for OCD.[1] It works by first identifying your fears and ranking them from mildest to most severe. Then the therapist, typically a psychologist, helps you gradually face each fear, starting with the mildest. Facing an obsessive fear — by for example touching a trash can — is the exposure part of therapy. Then the response, the compulsive ritual that usually accompanies the fear — repeated hand-washing, for instance — is delayed or prevented. While this initially may cause increased anxiety, after repeating the exercise under these controlled conditions, some people feel less anxiety. Over time, the exercise is repeated with gradually more severe fears, in hopes of lessening them one at a time through this process, called habituation.[1]
ERP therapy can be useful in individual, group, or family sessions. Sessions usually last from 1 to 2 hours, and between 13 and 20 total sessions are recommended for most people. After the initial therapy is done, a "booster" session may be recommended if the OCD symptoms are severe, have returned, or show signs of returning.[1]
No medication products for OCD are approved for use in combination with CBT including ERP. Please discuss your treatment regimen with your doctor.
This website is sponsored by Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Palo Alto, CA.