OCD Triggers in Daily Life? Don’t Ritualize. Be Strategic! 3 Tips for Fighting OCD.
Question: I know about ERP, and I understand that OCD symptoms can be reduced by resisting rituals and then habituating to the anxiety brought on by obsessive thoughts. However…what if an obsessional thought requires no ritual? Confused! Great question. I think that in all cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), there is some type of ongoing ritual that maintains the obsessional thought. This is because OCD is caused by threat misappraisals that are perpetuated and negatively reinforced by compulsive behaviors. As long as your compulsive behaviors remain in place, you are prevented from having the type of corrective learning experiences that are necessary for you to recover from your OCD. The reason that ERP is so effective is because it allows you to build these types of corrective learning experiences into your daily life. Sometimes a person has very obvious...
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OCD Treatment (ERP & CBT): Exposure & Cognitive Restructuring
Question: To what extent would a change of mindset (e.g., changing my expectations for myself) be helpful in recovering from OCD? What is likely to happen if I delay formal treatment with a psychologist and work instead on changing my own mindset? OCD Treatment Components: Cognitive Restructuring + Exposures Regardless of whether or not it occurs in the context of formal psychotherapy, changing your mindset will be a critical component of your recovery. If you do any reading on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), you’ll see this referred to as “cognitive restructuring.” Devoting time to challenging and modifying your underlying belief system is essential for fighting OCD, but research on OCD indicates that this process alone will probably be insufficient if it’s not integrated with appropriate exposure-based behavioral strategies (e.g., exposure and response prevention [ERP]). OCD Treatment Delays In general,...
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OCD Treatment: OCD vs. Me. How do I Tell the Difference?
Question: Because many of my OCD rituals are related to my professional identity, I’m worried that changing my rituals will somehow change those parts of me that I like (e.g., my personal goals and ambitions). Should I be concerned about this? Early Onset OCD in Kids & Teens (Pediatric OCD) Many people worry that by fighting their OCD, they will lose essential parts of themselves. This is particularly true for adults with obsessive compulsive disorder, who have had to deal with OCD for most of their lives. Because OCD often begins early in childhood and can have a chronic course, it can be difficult to separate yourself from your OCD symptoms. In many pediatric OCD cases, kids with OCD exhibit symptoms by age 10. Shockingly, in certain cases, even toddlers can show clinical signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder. There are...
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Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP) for OCD: Treatment Mechanism
How does ERP work? What mechanism underlies it? Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are disturbing thoughts, images, or impulses that increase feelings of anxiety. Compulsions (also known as “rituals”) are the strategies that individuals with OCD use to reduce the anxiety associated with obsessions. Rituals are effective coping strategies in the short-term, in that they lead to fairly rapid decreases in anxiety. However, rituals are considered maladaptive, because the anxiety relief they bring is short-lived. Engaging in rituals ultimately increases the likelihood that obsessions will be re-experienced in the future. This can be thought of as a positive feedback loop, in which compulsive behavior indirectly reinforces obsessions. This is depicted in the bottom half of the included figure. The treatment of choice for OCD is exposure and response prevention (ERP), which not surprisingly, has...
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Parenting Kids & Teens with OCD: Don’t Feed the Reassurance Monster…and Other Quick Tips
Many excellent parents struggle with how to appropriately parent their child/teen with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Unfortunately, this process is rarely straightforward and is often counter-intuitive, which leaves many parents feeling anxious and confused. As a psychologist in Palm Beach County, Florida, I work closely with kids, teens, and parents throughout the greater Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami areas on strategies for recovering from OCD. I also run a free support group for kids/teens with OCD. Consider the following set of ground rules for parenting your child with OCD. The strategies you adopt as a parent can mean the difference between reducing your child’s symptoms or giving these symptoms room to grow. 1. Remind yourself that OCD is based on emotion rather than logic. Many parents get tripped up and frustrated by the many illogical forms that OCD takes....
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Advanced ERP for OCD: how subtle rituals can limit your progress
What is exposure and response prevention (ERP) for OCD? As any good psychologist experienced in treating OCD can tell you, the most effective treatment for OCD is exposure and ritual prevention (ERP). You may also see this type of therapy referred to as exposure and response prevention. In this case, the semantics are immaterial; the concepts are exactly the same. ERP is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that is based on the premise that the best way to reduce your symptoms is to practice activities designed to trigger your anxiety and then resist any urges to ritualize. ERP has two main components: exposure – purposely doing activities that are designed to elicit your anxiety response prevention – actively resisting the urge to complete a ritual For example, for someone who worries about germs, an exposure might involve...
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Dr. Steven Seay is a licensed psychologist in Florida & Missouri. He is the Director of the Center for Psychological & Behavioral Science and provides treatment & therapy throughout South Florida, including Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Fort Lauderdale, & Miami.
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