Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment

/Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment
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August 2017

Interoceptive Exposure in OCD Treatment

By |August 7th, 2017|Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment|

Interoceptive exposure (IE) involves using exercises (e.g., hyperventilation) to deliberately evoke feared bodily sensations (e.g., shortness of breath; tightness in chest). It is most commonly associated with panic disorder treatment. In a recent paper, anxiety disorders expert and UNC professor Dr. [...]

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July 2017

SUDS vs. Willingness: Values-Based ACT Exposure for OCD

By |July 17th, 2017|Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment|

Throughout the years, I’ve written a series of blogs posts on exposure therapy, including the use of exposure therapy in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. In the absence of much guidance on using exposure in ACT, I co-authored a theoretical paper on its [...]

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June 2017

An Article about Guiding Exposure Work for OCD

By |June 26th, 2017|Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment|

Exposure and Response prevention (ERP) is the most effective treatment for OCD. However, it remains under-utilized by therapists even though it is preferred by people with OCD who are educated about treatment options. Therapist avoidance and lack of understanding about [...]

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December 2016

What One Sports Fan with OCD Learned from LeBron James

By |December 8th, 2016|Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment, OCD Information|

Much of what drives people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a fear of uncertainty. People with OCD may engage in frequent and/or time consuming rituals in order to ward off a feared outcome, no matter how remote the chance. As [...]

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March 2016

Hair Pulling (AKA Trichotillomania) and Skin Picking Problems

By |March 4th, 2016|Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment, OCD Information|

Greater Research Support for Behavior Therapy over Medication Trichotillomania (or trich for short) is a condition in which people repeatedly pull out their body hair, often leading to bald patches and thinning. The scalp is a common site—as are eyebrows [...]

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Psychotherapy vs. Medication for OCD – Which is More Effective?

By |March 4th, 2016|Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment, OCD Information|

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a serious and disabling problem for many people. Understandably, many people seek out medication to help with this problem, and research is shown that medication can be helpful some people. However, research is also very clear [...]

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The Difficulties of Accessing Effective Treatment: OCD as an Example

By |March 4th, 2016|Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment, OCD Information|

I resonated with a recent article in Psychology Today about the difficulties people have in finding therapists who offer effective treatment. The authors Dean McKay and Scott Lilienfeld—especially Dr. Lilienfeld—have been extremely active in promoting science-based psychotherapies. As an example, [...]

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Book Review: OCD, A Guide for the Newly Diagnosed

By |March 4th, 2016|Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment, OCD Information|

Although OCD is commonly used to describe someone who is overly tidy, this stereotype doesn’t capture the common struggles of someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Perhaps as a consequence of stereotypes such as this, many people with OCD suffer for years [...]

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June 2015

Treating Skin Picking with Acceptance-Enhanced Behavior Therapy

By |June 10th, 2015|Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment|

Excoriation or skin picking has often been in the shadow of its nearest relative, trichotillomania or repetitive hair pulling. One good thing to come out of the DSM-5 was that it finally made skin picking disorder an official diagnosis—excoriation. Prior to the DSM-5, there was [...]

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May 2015

An Alternative to Exposure and Response Prevention for OCD

By |May 21st, 2015|Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment|

Numerous studies have now shown that Exposure and Response (or Ritual) Prevention (ERP) remains  our most effective treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).  In ERP, clients deliberately confront feared stimuli while learning to refrain from engaging in compulsions. Even with the effectiveness [...]

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