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?
I started ERP 3 years ago. The biggest surprise for me comes when a new fear or thought comes up, or an old thought resurfaces, and I’m able to handle it so much easier than I thought. My ability to tolerate uncertainty also makes it easier to navigate life in general. Plus, the confidence that comes from resisting compulsions - if I can handle taboo thoughts, then who’s to say I can’t handle the next curveball?
@MichelleV Thanks for this. I start my very first ERP therapy today and I’m very anxious about it. I go through several subtypes but typically gravitate towards RJ/ROCD for the last 12 years. I’m hoping trying ERP therapy I will finally feel like I’m able to cope and gain the right tools to not keep letting it effect me like it has been
Amazing - exactly what we would hoe for from great ERP.
@Charlie7613 - Congrats on getting started!! Proud of you for committing to it.
@Charlie7613 I’m rooting for you!
@Patrick McGrath I’m so lucky to have my therapist. She pushed me when I needed it and always saw the bigger picture when I didn’t.
That it's truly like building a muscle. You don't often see the results from day to day of working on it. But at some point you look in the mirror and you can see the difference. That's what ERP is like. You don't see the improvement most days, but at some point you realize how far you've come.
Excellent way to put it!!!!
How quickly it can make a difference. When I really put all my effort into it, I saw noticeable improvement in weeks. By the way, just wanted to say I’ve watched your videos for a while now and they’ve helped me a lot with my OCD. Thank you for all you do!
Awesome, and thanks for the comments. I appreciate them and they will be motivating to others too.
response prevention messages have been much more effective than I would have thought. "I'm choosing to be uncomfortable with this thought right now and move on" makes it feel like I'm in the position of power not ocd. I'm making the choice to stay in distress wit a trigger until it passes instead of engaging it
And you are in the position of power if you allow yourself to be and not let the OCD get in the way!!!
Just started this therapy . Ty to those who leave encouragement
I second the kudos to you, Dr. McGrath. I look forward to your videos and webinars every week. Always amazes me that you don’t have OCD yourself given you understand it so well! I’ve had OCD for so many years, so I was amazed at how quickly results can come from ERP. So much so that I convinced a family member to join and they have made tremendous progress as well in a relatively short period of time. The other thing I’ve come to realize is how much time I’ve gotten back in my life by not doing compulsions. I use the journal part of the app to track my progress and remind myself of how far I’ve come. Went through several months of talk therapy prior to NOCD with a therapist who was very kind and caring, but we never really got into doing ERP. Always amazes me that with 1/40 people suffering from this there are so many therapists not properly trained in this form of therapy.
We agree, which is why we do free education all of the time so that more therapists will either learn how to do ERP or will learn who to refer people to so that they can get the ERP that they need to get.
So ERP has helped me a lot with certain themes of OCD but not Contamination (arguably my biggest) because it’s Disgust-Based rather than Fear-Based. Richard Gallagher, who lives in Ithaca, NY, wrote a book about it wherein he described his novel form of treatment for my kind of Contamination OCD, a treatment which he calls “Mastery”. He likens it to a veterinarian who loves working with animals but who is disgusted by animal poop, and so the veterinarian in question wears gloves and washes their hands every time they have to deal with animal poop (as of course they should), and this is a perfectly acceptable and reasonable accommodation for their disgust. ERP sort of failed me with regards to Disgust-Based Contamination OCD, which Richard Gallagher explains is actually quite common, so I’ve been working on Mastery with my therapist and I’ve been making some inroads. Aside from ERP, ACT, and Mastery, I wonder what other forms of psychotherapy are out there that can treat OCD…… (Someone please answer? Preferably an OCD therapist/expert)
With ERP and accepting uncertainty, I feel the response prevention is accepting uncertainty, I like the phase maybe ,maybe not ,it's so scary cause ocd says you must have 100% certainty but as Dr Patrick McGrath said ocd is the doubting disorder and will never accept uncertainty, but accepting uncertainty,cause you will never know and what Jhon greyson said you have to be okay if X happens, is the only way you break free from ocd hold over you,In nathan perterson master your ocd course ,he says you have to live a life style of ERP ,which is so true ,you are always in a E-expoure but the RP which is the most important is what we have to continue to do.
When there’s a new thing and I’m actually able to just brush it off. The old things are still sticky though.. And sometimes there are new ones that stick too. But SOMETIMES, my mind says I have to do a bunch of drastic compulsions about something, and I just.. don’t.. and 10 minutes later, I don’t care anymore? It’s so strange
I didn't think it'll work because I thought my SO-OCD was different but it did and still does work..it works for all themes of ocd
The biggest surprise was how much it helped in other areas of my life…I have an internal peace now that I never had before. I’m also a more patient person than I have been in the past.
Hello
Hello
I haven’t started yet, because I’m afraid of having to look at unsightly things that causes me anxiety. I’m equally concerned about talking about certain things that causes shame and anxiety. That’s what holding me back.
@Becoming Whole The end result is worth feeling the most embarrassed you may ever feel in life (not that you will)… this therapy is so helpful for OCD, being vulnerable is a small price to pay for the return of getting your life back and not being controlled by fear or emotions
What is erp for thoughts during intimacy?
Looking back, I realize I’ve had OCD since I was 7. though I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 30. As a kid, I was consumed by fears I couldn’t explain: "What if God isn’t real? What happens when we die? How do I know I’m real?" These existential thoughts terrified me, and while everyone has them from time to time, I felt like they were consuming my life. By 12, I was having daily panic attacks about death and war, feeling untethered from reality as depersonalization and derealization set in. At 15, I turned to drinking, spending the next 15 years drunk, trying to escape my mind. I hated myself, struggled with my body, and my intrusive thoughts. Sobriety forced me to face it all head-on. In May 2022, I finally learned I had OCD. I remember the exact date: May 10th. Reading about it, I thought, "Oh my God, this is it. This explains everything." My main themes were existential OCD and self-harm intrusive thoughts. The self-harm fears were the hardest: "What if I kill myself? What if I lose control?" These thoughts terrified me because I didn’t want to die. ERP changed everything. At first, I thought, "You want me to confront my worst fears? Are you kidding me?" But ERP is gradual and done at your pace. My therapist taught me to lean into uncertainty instead of fighting it. She’d say, "Maybe you’ll kill yourself—who knows?" At first, it felt scary, but for OCD, it was freeing. Slowly, I realized my thoughts were just thoughts. ERP gave me my life back. I’m working again, I’m sober, and for the first time, I can imagine a future. If you’re scared to try ERP, I get it. But if you’re already living in fear, why not try a set of tools that can give you hope?
Hi guys! I’m new to the community and I’ve recently received my OCD diagnosis (tho I’ve known about it since childhood). I’ve been somewhat spiraling lately as I wait for my first ERP session (hooray!) I was just wondering if any of you guys have received ERP for existential OCD and if it was successful? My existential OCD compulsions are more so mental and have been affecting me in the sense of dream/memory flashbacks and giving me a sort of “uncanny” feeling about everything around me. Any advice is appreciated! Thank you❤️
So you got to ask me anything… Now I’d like to ask you something! I’ve heard from Members that they were so scared coming to their first ERP session. They were terrified that I would think they were crazy, that I would tell them their worst fears were true. That I would confirm they are some form of a terrible person or have them hauled off to prison for their thoughts. I’ve also had Members share how they’re very scared to begin ERP treatment because they’ve researched enough to know it means facing the fear, without the compulsions that have kept them feeling safe (but not really safe) this entire time. They struggled to see how they could be capable of doing this, while simultaneously acknowledging that they did not want to live like this anymore. If you have had your first session, what were your thoughts before? Did you have any hesitations or fears going into it? How did it turn out? If you haven’t yet begun to work with an ERP specialist, what is holding you back?
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