How Exposure & Response Prevention Can Help OCD

If you or someone you know has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and would like to overcome it a great form of therapy that can help is Exposure and Response Prevention. To help understand what Exposure and Response Prevention is and how it can help OCD, I have interviewed therapist Laurie Howell, LMFT.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.
"I earned a Masters degree in Family Therapy from Virginia Tech in 2001. I have a private practice in Charlotte, North Carolina where I work primarily with adolescents, but also with children and young adults. I help clients with a variety of issues and concerns including conflict with parents, educational challenges, depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma, selective mutism , sexual abuse, dealing with divorce , and everyday life. I love my work and have really enjoyed learning about the treatment of OCD ( Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder ) over the past few years."

What type of impact can OCD have on someone's overall life?
"The impact of OCD on someone's overall life varies from person to person, but typically rituals take up more time and energy for the sufferer until their life can feel unbearable. For example, an adolescent with OCD can end up spending four hours trying to get homework just right when the assignment would typically take 25 minutes. The daily routine of getting up for school and getting dressed can turn into a two hour ordeal. Relationships can become quite strained; parent-child relationships especially. Like I said, though, OCD looks different from person to person. One person may be successful at hiding the disorder in social settings, whereas another person may be unable to avoid displaying very unusual behaviors."

What is exposure and response prevention therapy?
"Exposure and Response Prevention is a cognitive-behavioral therapy technique used in the treatment of OCD. Exposure and Response Prevention is a process of gradually exposing a client to a source of anxiety (i.e. fear of germs ) and then encouraging the client to refrain from a compulsion (i.e. handwashing). Therapists trained in Exposure and Response Prevention gather information about the client's obsessions, rituals, and levels of anxiety in order to know how and when to start Exposure and Response Prevention. The therapist starts the client practicing Exposure and Response Prevention on issues that cause milder amounts of distress and then gradually encourages the client to practice Exposure and Response Prevention on issues that create the most anxiety. Exposure and Response Prevention is completed in-session and out-of-session, and typically leads to a reduction in OCD symptoms. Exposure and Response Prevention is frequently used in conjunction with education, family support, and medication."

How can exposure and response prevention help someone overcome OCD?
"A client who regularly completes Exposure and Response Prevention in-session and out-of-session begins to conquer OCD because the level of anxiety fades, and the rituals become less time consuming. For example, a client who is washing his hands 30 times a day for 15 minutes a time due to fear of germs is assigned a schedule to gradually decrease the number of times he washes his hands and the amount of time he spends washing his hands. The schedule and the repetitive nature of Exposure and Response Prevention retrain the brain--it works!! As a therapist, this work is incredibly rewarding because I watch clients take their lives back from OCD."

Where can someone find more information about exposure and response prevention therapy?
"The Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation is a great resource for finding out more about OCD and Exposure and Response Prevention. The OCD Foundation has many resources online and can be found at www.ocfoundation.org ."

Thanks Laurie for doing the interview on how Exposure and Response Prevention therapy can help overcome OCD. For more information on Laurie Howell and her work you can check out her website on www.newcastlefamilytherapy.com .

Recommended Readings:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5452926/obsessive_compulsive_disorder_an_interview.html?cat=70">Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: An Interview with Dr. Criswell

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/290147/obsessive_compulsive_disorder.html?cat=70">Obsessive Compulsive Disorder