I thought ERP was about letting your have the obsession & not do the compulsion. Today, I talked to my therapist about a past theme I overcame (not knowing if I dropped money on the ground) & how I overcame that. I overcame that by simply letting the thought (what if I've dropped money) be there & then not doing the compulsion (checking). I asked him if this was ERP, but he never told me. He said if a client was struggling he would have them purposefully drop money on the ground. So I don't understand. Is ERP letting yourself have the obsession & not do the compulsion or is it doing the content inside the obsession? I am very distraught because I feel like nobody is on the same page when it comes to what ERP is & how it works I am so overwhelmed right now, everything is confusing, I don't understand the way this therapy works. I never have. It's never benefited me. What I do know has benefited me is letting the thoughts be there & not reacting, but apparently that's wrong?? I feel like this is a sick circus game or something.

Carl Cornett

Date posted: 4y

Letting the thoughts be there and not reacting is the response prevention in the ERP. There’s a variation among how to do exposures. Some are imaginal (like writing scripts) and some involve interaction or in person (like looking at pictures of the opposite sex if you have sexual orientation OCD). What the exposure specifically entails is highly individual. At times for my harm OCD that meant intentionally holding a knife to my therapist, and other times it meant letting a thought come and not reacting. There’s no universal exposure “rule” for every person and every theme. It’s about what triggers you specifically and engaging in response prevention (not doing compulsions). What I’m saying is the exposure and response prevention exercise you did worked for you. What your therapist suggested might work for someone else. You’re obsessing about doing it perfectly. Which is just another obsession in the list of all the others.

canigetawitness

Date posted: 4y

I recognize that I'm trying to get ERP just right & that it's problematic. I am also confused about how to use it going forward, but like you said, there are many different ways. Thanks for replying & for the support. I have a problem with perfectionism & wanting to know if I'm doing the correct thing for therapy. And if there's a chance I'm not, my anxiety skyrockets and I go into panic mode. I feel guilty, bad, awful, almost like I'm committing crimes. I'll keep working on this. Sorry for being repetitive.

Carl Cornett

Date posted: 4y

@canigetawitness Just practice recognizing this as another trigger, and the needing to know if I you’re doing it perfectly as just another obsession/compulsion. Go at it the same way as you have been with other obsessions.

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