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Treatment & ERP
Exposure and response prevention is the first-line psychological treatment for OCD. These guides explain its principles and practical tools, while leaving treatment decisions to you and a qualified professional.
5 articles
Compulsion Delay: Creating a Gap Between the Urge and the Ritual
Never doing the compulsion again is a plan almost nobody can execute. Waiting five minutes is. Here is why delay works and how to use it without turning it into a ritual.
Read postERP vs CBT for OCD: Why the Distinction Matters
People are often told to get CBT for OCD, start generic CBT, and find it does not help. The reason is that the CBT that treats OCD is a specific branch of it called ERP.
Read postHow to Build an Exposure Hierarchy (With Worked Examples)
A hierarchy is the plan that makes ERP possible: your triggers, rated and ordered, so there is always a next rung you can actually reach.
Read postThe SUDS Scale: Rating Distress from 0 to 10 During Exposures
A single number, rated in the moment, is what turns an exposure from a bad hour into data you can learn from. Here is how to use the SUDS scale properly.
Read postWhat Is ERP? A Plain-English Guide to Exposure and Response Prevention
ERP is the front-line therapy for OCD, and it is far less mysterious than it sounds. Here is what it is, what a session looks like, and why the response prevention half is the part that does the work.
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