Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)

According to the International OCD Foundation, there are two common forms of treatment for OCD; exposure response prevention (ERP) and anti-depressant medications (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). 

The primary form of therapeutic treatment is cognitive and behavioral therapy (CBT), specifically exposure and response prevention (ERP). 

During the ERP therapy process, patients will be asked to face their obsessions head on (exposure) while abstaining from compulsive behavior (response prevention). Facing obsessional fears help patients to habituate to the fearful obsession. 

Learning to abstain from compulsive behaviors provides further relief from OCD symptoms, although this is completely counter to what individuals suffering from OCD want to do. It is so much easier to give in and perform a compulsion but, this is at the expense of reinforcing OCD. Therefore, clients will learn the ways in which they perform compulsions and how to abstain from giving into compulsions.