- Date posted
- 3y
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 3y
Hi! There are actually two types or kinds of exposures. One type, the scheduled type that you are referring to initially, is the one where you purposefully go out of your way to do it. This is more "offensive" in that it's semi planned, in advance, and that you go into it head on. This may or may not be discussed with a therapist, though it usually is, but it's structured and you intend on doing it repetitively and consistently for a period of time usually until you habituate or until you no longer need to work on this as determined by you and/or your therapist. The other kind are called "situationals" - what you're referring to when you say "whenever you come across it". This is more "defensive" versus the other one being more offensive in nature. It's great because these are usually unexpected, they pop up out of nowhere, and are usually more real to life or realistic in terms of how triggers happen. It's necessary with both to have good ritual prevention before/during/after. To answer your question, you need both. Just like in football, no team ever got to the superbowl without having a good offense and a good defense. You will need to do some mixture of structured, planned, intentional exposure work and you will also have to be responding appropriately in situational times when anxiety pops up.
- Date posted
- 3y
But I don't know how to plan a scheduled one, I have no idea what to do for exposures
- Date posted
- 3y
@PolarisJoy That’s where an OCD therapist can be very helpful
- Date posted
- 3y
@Anonymous I don't have the money
- Date posted
- 3y
It still is, but it’s recommended that you intentionally bring it on so that when the unexpected triggers happen they don’t catch you off guard
- Date posted
- 3y
Does practicing ERP with expected triggers also influence your response against unexpected ones?
- Date posted
- 3y
@PolarisJoy Yes absolutely!
- Date posted
- 3y
What theme do you struggle with?
- Date posted
- 3y
It's very random, but mainly harm, magical thinking, pure and "being OCD about OCD"
Related posts
- Date posted
- 20w
What ERP or other techniques do you use to combat fear of cancelation? Especially curious about those with taboo thoughts, false memory ocd and event ocd based off of real events where the fear of cancellation may actually hold some validity. I once did my own ERP not under a therapist but just on my own I decided to create an anonymous account on Twitter and defend a friend who was receiving online criticism. I knew that this would be semi-controversial so I was expecting backlash and when I recieved troll replies it actually seemed to be a really helpful low-stakes exposure activity. Is this something that others have done? Low stakes online posts etc. that you know will recieve negative responses? I have had severe OCD as a kid as pretty much every subtype under the sun, and as an adult I pretty much have all the types under control except for this real event and false memory and taboo thought OCD. It seems like a different beast since it's somewhat realistic in the camcellation culture today, and it's confusing to address. Ive shut down almost all social accounts and it's keeping me from progressing in a career where I need to have an online presence :/
- Date posted
- 19w
Can I hear some examples of specific parts of ERP that has helped you? I've been doing talk therapy for a few years and the major issue I have with it is that I already have analyzed all of my problems from every angle, so I'm kind of just sitting there yapping about it for an hour. I need solutions and things that make me feel better.
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 15w
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) isn't always easy, but as one of the most effective treatments for OCD, it's worth it. If you've started ERP, what has been the biggest surprise you've experienced in learning to resist compulsions? If you haven't started ERP yet, what is holding you back from starting?
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