Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Fears and doubts rule your life.

“What if I hit someone?” “Maybe I said something wrong.” “I might have offended God.” “I might get infected.”

Are such obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors keeping you trapped in a cycle of fear and doubt, making it difficult for you to live the life you want?

Constant, intrusive thoughts and the need to perform repetitive behaviors can leave you feeling trapped and exhausted. But there’s hope.

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Inference-Based CBT for OCD (I-CBT) are both evidence-based treatments specifically designed to help you break free from the cycle of obsessions and compulsions.

Here’s how ERP helps Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

ERP is a powerful and effective treatment, considered the gold standard and first-line treatment for OCD. This therapeutic approach can help break the cycle of obsessions and compulsions by supporting individuals in gradually facing their fears or triggers (exposure) and preventing the usual compulsive behaviors or mental rituals (response prevention).

This approach is counterintuitive and goes directly against how people usually respond to OCD. But, through repeated practice, ERP helps individuals gain confidence in their ability to handle difficult situations and emotions and learn that their feared outcomes are unlikely to occur or are not as catastrophic as they believe. This powerful approach helps retrain your brain to tolerate uncertainty and reduce the grip OCD has on your life, leading to lasting improvements in mental health and overall well-being.

Who benefits from ERP? Individuals experiencing distress from obsessions and compulsions that interfere with daily life are motivated to confront their fears and willing to engage in challenging but rewarding therapeutic work and are looking for a structured and evidence-based approach to managing OCD can benefit from ERP.

Inference-based CBT for OCD also helps.

I-CBT is a specialized form of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) designed specifically to treat Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This therapeutic method offers a robust, specialized approach to treating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) by targeting the unique thinking patterns that drive your symptoms.

At the heart of OCD lies inferential confusion, a cognitive distortion where imagined scenarios receive more weight than reality. This misconception leads to obsessive doubts and compulsive behaviors as you try to resolve these imagined but unreal threats.

I-CBT helps you recognize these distorted inferences and replace them with a more accurate understanding of your thoughts and experiences. By addressing the cognitive distortions at the heart of OCD, I-CBT empowers you to break free from the cycle of obsessions and compulsions, leading to long-lasting relief and a more fulfilling life.

Who benefits from I-CBT? This method is particularly beneficial for individuals with OCD who struggle with persistent doubts and uncertainty, find themselves stuck in a cycle of compulsive behaviors driven by fear of imagined scenarios, have not found success with ERP for OCD, or are looking for a cognitive approach that addresses the specific thought processes involved in OCD.