Skeptical about ERP? I found ERP really conflicts with some other theories, like the theories of Louise Hay (who wrote the book “you can heal your life). I will elaborate on my confusions. 1. ERP asks us to experience obsessions without thinking “no I won’t hurt myself” “no I won’t hurt others”. “No, I am safe and those thoughts are not real”. Thinking “i won’t do dangerous stuff and I am completely safe” is considered as compulsion to rid us of anxiety, but Louise Hay thinks it as positive affirmation. 2. Will ERP make us believe what we think even more? ERP asks you to write your fears into those stories and scripts and repeat them again and again until you habituate. But why would I say to myself “oh, maybe I will kill my parents and I will accept that and move on”? How does this make any sense? 3. I read the book of Shannon Shy who has recovered from OCD and he used his own strategies. I remembered that when he confronted his obsession of whether he left the pot on, he would say to himself that “do you think the pot will turn itself on”? to help him better move on to do things that he should do. But according to ERP, isn’t this a compulsion? Cuz ERP asks us to accept that ok the pot may be on and my house may be burned down and I accept that and I move on? I just find ERP theories weird.

I think different therapies could work! Talking back your ocd can be helpful. Like if you think maybe I’ll kill my parents, you could say out of all the opportunities I’ve had to do it, I haven’t. That could turn into a compulsion though so be careful! Sometimes I’ll talk back to my thoughts by saying whatever or yeah right or I know this is just OCD, but I say different things to make sure it won’t be a compulsion and I don’t do it all the time. I think the thing that helped me most is accepting uncertainty and accepting that thoughts are just thoughts. I just think of it like “I don’t care” because really, I shouldn’t care! ERP may not be right for everyone, if you think something else will work better go for it! The thing is though, is that OCD makes zero sense! Our immediate response to the thoughts is fear and that tells our brains that it’s important when it isn’t. The only reason it seems so important is because we react to it. You’re not accepting that there is a 50/50 chance you will kill your parents, you’re just accepting that there are infinite possibilities and the chance is just greater than absolute zero.

@0823 thank you for your reply.

ERP works super well for me, but I understand it may not be for everyone (however I think everyone should try it, and stick at it for a good portion of time - you don’t know till you try) I think the secret is finding something that works and sticking with it, not constantly changing your mind about how to tackle it. Anything we try, be it CBT, ACT, medication or ERP, takes a long time to really work

I hope that all made sense!