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Not all types of therapy are equally effective for treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Determining the best course of treatment for OCD can be difficult because so many different therapies are available.
Exposure therapy prevention (ERP), a cognitive behavioral therapy, is the holy grail of treatment for OCD (CBT). However, not all CBT for OCD techniques is appropriate or helpful for OCD. In fact, some could even be harmful.
How does cognitive behavioral therapy function? What is it?
The term “CBT” refers to various evidence-based therapies founded on the notion that a person’s thoughts, behaviors, and emotions are all interconnected and have a cyclical effect on one another.
For instance, a therapist would advise this patient to tell herself repeatedly, “I am safe,” whenever they experience fear of contamination. This may quickly become a habit for somebody with OCD that they use to cope with unwanted thoughts.
Why is ERP the most effective treatment among CBT for OCD?
Because ERP therapy uses a focused strategy to address your psychological issues, it is regarded as the best OCD treatment. In the scenario mentioned above, an ERP therapist wouldn’t comfort the patient by arguing with their worries about contamination.
A person with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is likely fully aware of every rational answer and has made futile attempts to reason oneself out of their concerns.
The opposite strategy is taken in ERP treatment.
You embrace your obsessive ideas rather than using reassurance to attempt to stop them. ERP therapy’s principle is that exposure to these ideas is the best approach to treating OCD.
Constantly doing compulsions, such as reassurance, makes you feel more driven to carry them out in the future.
In this case, a patient can feel better following a CBT session but develop a dependency on the therapist’s assurance or swiftly relapse into an obsession and compulsion cycle when the frequent OCD doubt of “but what if” sets in.
Instead, when you refrain from acting out your compulsions, you give yourself the chance to learn a new way to react and realize that the feared consequence won’t happen or that you can manage it if it does. You are very likely to notice a noticeable decrease in your anxiety.
During ERP therapy, you’ll build a hierarchy of issues and related exposures with the aid of your therapist and work your way through everything.
As in the preceding illustration, the patient may begin by introducing a new item into their house and allowing themselves to sit with the anxiety it causes. They will eventually have the ability to host a guest.
CBT and Cognitive Restructuring
Cognitive restructuring is confronting illogical concepts or cognitive patterns and substituting them with realistically grounded, sensible thoughts. The purpose is to utilize facts to refute ideas founded on emotional reactions.
Progressively relaxing the muscles
People may physically contract and relieve stress throughout their bodies via progressive muscle relaxation. The body may activate the fight-or-flight reaction under stress or anxiety, which frequently results in muscle tightness. An essential part of stress management is teaching the body to stop activating this reaction.
The length of CBT for OCD might vary depending on the patient and the intensity of their symptoms. One hour-long weekly session for roughly 12 weeks is the typical CBT therapy paradigm for OCD.
