What is Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)?

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the most effective treatment for OCD. In fact, if you have OCD is recommended that you find an OCD specialty therapist who is well-versed in ERP. 

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ERP is a two-step process. First, you will find and engage in a meaningful task that triggers an unwanted thoughts or feeling. This is the Exposure. Then, you will learn to tolerate or challenge the thoughts and feelings without doing a compulsion, or reducing your anxiety. This is response prevention. 

ERP is effective for OCD if the exposure tasks are meaningful to the person conducting the task. An experienced OCD therapist will help you to understand  how and why you will practice ERP. You should always be in control of your ERP, it is important that you challenge your OCD with guidance from a therapist, not that you feel pressured to complete a task. 

If you have any concerns about conducting ERP you may be interested in this post about ethics of ERP. If you are not sure if you have OCD you may read more here. If you think that ERP for OCD may be helpful for you or a loved one please contact me to schedule a free 15-minute consultation. 

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