OCD Information Articles

/OCD Information Articles
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708, 2017

Interoceptive Exposure in OCD Treatment

By |August 7th, 2017|Categories: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment|Comments Off on Interoceptive Exposure in OCD 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 [...]

1707, 2017

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

By |July 17th, 2017|Categories: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment|Comments Off on SUDS vs. Willingness: Values-Based ACT Exposure for OCD

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 [...]

2606, 2017

Study Suggests Clients Don’t Dropout of ERP for OCD More Than for Any Other Treatment

By |June 26th, 2017|Categories: OCD Information|Comments Off on Study Suggests Clients Don’t Dropout of ERP for OCD More Than for Any Other Treatment

A common figure for the dropout rate of exposure and response prevention (ERP) for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder is about 25%.  During one OCD workshop I attended, 2 different presenters insinuated that these high rates of dropout [...]

2606, 2017

An Article about Guiding Exposure Work for OCD

By |June 26th, 2017|Categories: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment|Tags: |Comments Off on An Article about Guiding Exposure Work for OCD

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 [...]

812, 2016

What One Sports Fan with OCD Learned from LeBron James

By |December 8th, 2016|Categories: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment, OCD Information|Comments Off on What One Sports Fan with OCD Learned from LeBron James

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 [...]

403, 2016

Hair Pulling (AKA Trichotillomania) and Skin Picking Problems

By |March 4th, 2016|Categories: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment, OCD Information|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on Hair Pulling (AKA Trichotillomania) and Skin Picking Problems

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 [...]

403, 2016

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

By |March 4th, 2016|Categories: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment, OCD Information|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on Psychotherapy vs. Medication for OCD – Which is More Effective?

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, [...]

403, 2016

The Difficulties of Accessing Effective Treatment: OCD as an Example

By |March 4th, 2016|Categories: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment, OCD Information|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on The Difficulties of Accessing Effective Treatment: OCD as an Example

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 [...]

403, 2016

Book Review: OCD, A Guide for the Newly Diagnosed

By |March 4th, 2016|Categories: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment, OCD Information|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Book Review: OCD, A Guide for the Newly Diagnosed

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 [...]

1006, 2015

Treating Skin Picking with Acceptance-Enhanced Behavior Therapy

By |June 10th, 2015|Categories: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment|Comments Off on Treating Skin Picking with Acceptance-Enhanced Behavior Therapy

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. [...]

2105, 2015

An Alternative to Exposure and Response Prevention for OCD

By |May 21st, 2015|Categories: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment|Comments Off on An Alternative to Exposure and Response Prevention for OCD

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 [...]

1105, 2015

More Avoidant Therapists Are Less Likely to use Exposure in OCD Treatment

By |May 11th, 2015|Categories: OCD Information|Comments Off on More Avoidant Therapists Are Less Likely to use Exposure in OCD Treatment

In a previous post, I linked to a blog post about therapist reluctance to use exposure therapy. Exposure therapy is one of the most effective interventions for anxiety-related problems but, sadly, remains under-utilized by clinicians. It is an [...]

1307, 2014

A Great Blog Post About Therapist Reluctance to Use Exposure

By |July 13th, 2014|Categories: OCD Information|Comments Off on A Great Blog Post About Therapist Reluctance to Use Exposure

Eric Morris, PhD, a psychologist in Australia, wrote a really interesting blog post about therapist reluctance to use exposure.  As I’ve written about in previous posts, exposure therapy is one of the most effective interventions we have [...]

701, 2014

Why Understanding Theory is Important in Conducting Exposure Therapy

By |January 7th, 2014|Categories: OCD Information|Comments Off on Why Understanding Theory is Important in Conducting Exposure Therapy

In a special issue of Behavior Therapy on “The Theory-Practice Gap in Cognitive Behavior Therapy,” Jonathan Abramowitz, PhD, authored an interesting paper on the importance of understanding theory when doing exposure therapy. Dr. Abramowitz is a well-respected OCD researcher, and [...]

1312, 2013

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Superior to Antipsychotics for OCD

By |December 13th, 2013|Categories: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment|Comments Off on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Superior to Antipsychotics for OCD

A practice I’m seeing more often that concerns me is the addition of antipsychotic medications on top of antidepressants when the antidepressants aren’t working. If someone isn’t showing improvement on an antidepressant alone, a prescriber [...]

2009, 2013

A Meta-Analysis Comparing Psychotherapy and Medication for OCD

By |September 20th, 2013|Categories: OCD Information|Comments Off on A Meta-Analysis Comparing Psychotherapy and Medication for OCD

This post was featured on our client-centered blog The Art and Science of Living Well, but I thought it would be of interest to therapists as well. The post is about a finding from a meta-analysis by [...]

1611, 2012

Using TLC to Learn About Hair Trichotillomania

By |November 16th, 2012|Categories: OCD Information|Comments Off on Using TLC to Learn About Hair Trichotillomania

A few years ago, my clinic director suggested I check out trainings offered through the Trichotillomania Learning Center (TLC), a grassroots hub for information on trichotillomania and skin pulling (or dermatillomania). He knew about my interest in structured treatments [...]

506, 2012

How Do You Use Exposure in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?

By |June 5th, 2012|Categories: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment|Comments Off on How Do You Use Exposure in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?

In June, Utah State professor Mike Twohig is coming to Portland to conduct a daylong workshop on using exposure in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). [As a side note, I did my first ACT training with [...]