Is it possible to recover without ERP, but just resisting compulsions in general?

HiPolarisJoy, to me resisting/not giving into compulsions is a major foundation of ERP….so you kind of are already doing it. To me the main addition with ERP is practicing making your self able to deal with the anxiety caused by exposures, be it in real life, or in “practice” scenarios so that over time the anxiety you feel from them will lessen to the point that you won’t feel the need to do the compulsion at all. Yes it will take awhile to gradually build up to a point where you don’t do the compulsions and at first will be taking steps to extend the time before doing compulsions, but with ERP you can pick your lower anxiety inducing obsessions to work on first and apply the same techniques to higher anxiety inducing ones as you go. Also, mentally just getting accustomed to not giving your OCD a definitive answer, in this case by doing your compulsion, is something that helps with your intrusive thoughts in general. ERP can be used for any type of theme/subtype and it does work extremely well (especially in my own experience) which is why it is so highly recommended. I started the same as you and @egirl96 by just trying to resist the compulsions as they happened, but it wasn’t until I started practicing ERP, and getting creative with it, that my anxiety spikes would lessen as i tried to not give into my compulsions, until many of them don’t typically bother me anymore. Yes, I do slip up, especially when up under duress from outside stressors, but I am definitely a lot better in general than I used to be. Just think of ERP as your resisting of compulsions that you do now, but just planned out in real life or in practice, in a controlled environment and with practicing being able to sit and live with the uncertainty and being okay with it. Different things work for different people, depending on your themes/subtypes and severity, you may be able to manage with just doing the not giving into compulsions, and if so that’s great, more power to you. I will say though that for many people, myself included, full on ERP has been the only way for me to get my OCD under control and it more than likely would help you as well. I highly encourage looking into ERP, and at least trying it, but whatever you decide, good luck in your recovery and stay strong.

That’s where I’m at. I can’t do my compulsions so I literally have just had to work through my anxiety. ERP isn’t useful in my situation either. It seems to be working though!