Psychological treatments of
OCD-Exposure, response prevention
(ERP)
Aims to provide opportunities for
re-conditioning.
classical conditioning
operant
conditioning
Exposure
Patient is repeatedly presented with the
feared stimulus until anxiety subsides
(habituation)
May be in a similar manner
to systematic
desensitisation
If pace is too slow,
the patient may lose
motivation
Anxieties persist because of negative
reinforcement. To break the
anxiety-producing stimulus, reinforcing
must occur and the patient must learnt
through relaxation to reduce anxiety.
Response prevention
Patient is prohibited from engaging in the usual
compulsive response
This allows the patient to recognise
that anxiety can be reduced without
the compulsive ritual.
For example, a woman that is obsessed
with cleanliness might be given a list of
therapeutic rules she must accept, such
as not cleaning her house for a week
If a patient can control their
behaviour, then they learn that
those obsessions that previously
created anxiety no longer produce
this response.