Understanding Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy for OCD

ExRP (Exposure and Response Prevention) is the gold-standard treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Pioneered in the 1960s by British psychologist Vic Meyer, this treatment galvanized the mental health community and was expanded by Edna Foa and her colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania. Becoming what is known today as EXRP

ExRP is a type of behavioral therapy that exposes people to situations that evoke their obsessions and the resulting distress that comes with the obsessions. This is done while helping people prevent their compulsive responses. The primary goal of ExRP is to liberate people from the shackles of obsessions and compulsions.

The key and distinguishing factor of ExRP is Response Prevention. This is because anything that is able to rid ourselves of distress makes it almost impossible for us to get used to it. When people don’t turn to immediately acting on their obsessions with their compulsions, they learn how to accept their obsessions instead of trying to desperately and helplessly neutralize them. The thoughts may still bring on distress, but they no longer feel debilitating.

This process of getting used to something is described as “habituation”. As people habituate to the feelings their obsessions kick up and reduce their dependence on compulsions, they eventually spend less energy and time avoiding the fear of pain. Eventually the thing they fear the most, no longer holds an earth shattering charge.

The primary mission of ExRP is to look straight at our unpleasant thoughts instead of running away from them or soothing them by engaging in a compulsions that eventually cause us long-term stress.

An advantage of ExRP is that you can use the skills learned in therapy to change how you deal with anxiety and OCD. These skills enable you to enact long-lasting change. Most clients who complete ExRP treatment say that their symptoms are significantly diminished over time. Approximately 70% of patients who do a course of ExRP see significant improvement.

A meta-analysis by Eddy et al. indicated that approximately two-thirds of patients who received ERP experienced drastic improvement in symptoms, and approximately one-third of patients were considered to be recovered.

Although discomfort is inevitable with ExRP treatment, this is done in the safety of a strong therapeutic alliance at Repose. Something we see as paramount to personal healing through therapy. ExRP also provides opportunities to learn new patterns of behavior without avoidance of the feared situation or thought. This functions to increase the individual’s ability to tolerate distress and allows for them to learn more adaptive and functional ways to cope.

Our team of psychotherapists have completed trainings & certifications for ExRP and can provide you with quality care in the treatment of OCD. Reach out to us and click here to check out our therapist directory.