Exposure and Response Prevention.

Historically, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been a perplexing disorder to treat. It was not until the 1960s that researchers identified techniques that proved to be effective for managing obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. These techniques were first reported in case studies by Meyer (1966), who exposed clients to anxiety-evoking stimuli and prevented them from engaging in compulsive rituals. As discussed in previous chapters, this method of treatment has become known as exposure and response prevention (ERP; also known as exposure and ritual prevention). In the 1970s and 1980s, ERP underwent empirical scrutiny and emerged as the gold standard psychological treatment for OCD. Currently, ERP continues to be the standard against which other treatments are compared and is the only psychological intervention for OCD to be recognized as an empirically supported psychological treatment (DeRubeis & Crits-Christoph, 1998). A review of treatment outcome research indicates that between 63% and 83% of participants across multiple studies obtained some benefit following ERP, and many of these gains were maintained across long-term follow-up (Abramowitz, 1997; Foa & Kozak, 1996; Stanley & Turner, 1995). In this chapter, we review the empirical status of ERP, including how this treatment has fared against other psychological and medication treatments, and then provide a description of how to implement ERP in clinical practice. We conclude the chapter with a case example to illustrate the use of ERP with a client with OCD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)