ERP Therapy

What Is ERP Therapy For OCD?

Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy (ERP) is an effective treatment for obsessive- compulsive disorder (OCD). Pioneered in the 1970s by Edna Foa, a clinical psychologist and research professor at the University of Pennsylvania, ERP is considered the “gold standard” for the treatment of OCD. 

Not only does ERP therapy offer someone with OCD beneficial coping skills, but it also reprograms the OCD-affected brain at a fundamental level. ERP therapy helps clients gradually realize that what they’re worried about happening is not that bad. Although this may sound like a subtle change in the thought process of someone who struggles with OCD, it’s quite significant.

How Does ERP - OCD Therapy Work?

To understand OCD, you must first understand how the human brain works. Each of us has a built-in warning system that is designed to protect us from external threats and danger. However, when you have OCD, your body’s warning system gets hijacked and will begin to warn you about anything it perceives to be a threat—whether or not is a threat—as something disastrous and frightening. 

For those with OCD, your warning system can no longer discern between “You absolutely are in danger,” and “Be on alert—you might be in danger.” What makes OCD such a painful disorder is that even when you know it’s unlikely something bad will happen, your brain is frequently alarming that you are in danger, leading to unwelcome thoughts, compulsions, and behaviors. 

With ERP for OCD, a client will identify the triggering situations that increase their anxiety and then learn coping skills they can utilize when a triggering situation presents itself. Gradually these coping skills will help prevent compulsions from taking over. By initially facing the situations that spark obsessions within a safe environment, fears will become less overwhelming as they arise in daily life outside of therapy. 

Who Can Benefit From ERP - OCD Therapy?

Exposure and Response Prevention therapy (ERP) was developed for treating individuals who struggle with OCD, phobias, and generalized anxiety. Effective ERP therapy helps clients learn to approach and accept anxiety rather than actively avoid it, thereby resisting the urge to engage in the compulsive behaviors their anxiety usually triggers. What clients realize through ERP therapy is that the situations they fear will take place are highly unlikely to occur, and even if they do, they realize they can handle them after all. 

The idea of ERP therapy might appear scary to clients at first because it can feel like they are deliberately putting themselves in danger. However, it’s important to know that Exposure and Response Prevention can be a turning point for treating OCD. The techniques learned in ERP therapy can change the nature of OCD over time. By challenging the brain’s reaction to triggers, it will gradually begin to respond in a way that is more in line with what is actually happening.

Research has found ERP therapy to be an effective form of treatment for OCD. A review of 12 studies found that 83 percent of patients who completed ERP were classified as responding favorably to treatment. In 16 studies reporting long term follow-up of treatment, 76 percent of patients were considered to have successfully maintained their gains.

Background In ERP - OCD Therapy

The reason we decided to dedicate much of the practice to working with clients with OCD is that we have seen firsthand how ERP therapy can lead to profound changes in our clients lives. Over the years, we have worked with clients who were consumed by OCD before therapy, dealing with compulsions for 20 hours a day or more. However, once ERP treatment was completed, they were spending less than 15 minutes per day getting distracted by OCD and were able to get their lives back on track.  

The way OCD takes over peoples’ lives can be insidious, but it is so powerful and rewarding to witness the dramatic changes ERP therapy can make to keep these unwanted behaviors at bay. I hope to help you achieve the same goals I have seen others accomplish once they committed to try ERP therapy for themselves. 

Find Out How ERP- OCD Therapy Can Help You - San Diego

We are available for in person sessions in San Diego and through video sessions all over California. I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation and can be reached through my contact page.