Exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy is the evidence-based psychological treatment of choice for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Basically, the person with OCD is exposed to his or her obsessions, encouraged to feel the anxiety, and asked to refrain from engaging in rituals (compulsions) to reduce the fear.
I hear from many people with OCD who say that while they understand what ERP therapy is, and even how it could be helpful to many people, they don’t think it would work for their type of OCD, and therefore they don’t pursue treatment. This is indeed unfortunate as ERP can truly benefit all those who deal with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
But wait a minute. What if people’s obsessions involve horrible things happening to those they love, or a fear of going to hell? What if their worst obsession is the fear of being involved in a fatal car crash? Certainly these are not obsessions we want to, or are even able to, expose ourselves to. How can ERP ever help someone with these types of obsessions?
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