People are experiencing symptoms of anxiety and being diagnosed with anxiety disorders in record numbers, as we’ve previously shared.
Look no further than the pandemic as a major cause for this. The good news is that people are also seeking treatment like never before which, in general, helps raise awareness for mental health.
Among the many tried and true treatments for anxiety disorders and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy or ERP, a therapeutic approach that exposes the individual to the source of anxiety and stress so they could better manage their symptoms. ERP falls under the treatment category of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and helps people with obsessive thoughts stop responding with compulsions or rituals.
Below, we provide an overview of ERP therapy.
How ERP Therapy Works
Anxiety is a normal emotion, but it develops into a clinical problem when its symptoms are strong enough to disrupt your daily activities and responsibilities, which ultimately has a negative impact on your quality of life.
So why in the world would you be instructed to run into the fire and subject yourself to anxious situations?
Rest assured that while ERP indeed encourages you to face your fears, the exposure is a gradual process. Early sessions begin with teaching relaxation techniques, a vital step for patients to reframe their thinking rationally and clearly. As sessions progress, the patient is exposed to objects, situations, mental images, or other stimuli that trigger anxious and obsessive thoughts.
Next is response-prevention or learning to respond to uncomfortable stimuli without compulsive behaviors. The goal is to build tolerance for discomfort rather than perpetuating debilitating response patterns.
Habituation
The official name of the response skill mentioned above is “habituation”, achieved when an individual stops responding or paying attention to a stimulus they perceive as a threat.
An example of this is dealing with a minor defect on your computer monitor, such as a dead pixel. While the machine works fine and the rest of the display has great resolution, obsessively focusing on that one tiny part can spoil everything. Don’t tell someone with OCD or an anxiety disorder that this is a ridiculous worry because to them it’s not. Habituation in this instance is achieved by encouraging this individual to work around the pixel, and with each passing day, they become less aggravated until it’s no longer noticed.
Avoiding Avoidance
It’s natural to avoid situations that make us uncomfortable, but people with anxiety disorders take it to extremes. Avoidance simply reinforces fears and creates a false narrative that you don’t have the skills to cope with them.
ERP teaches to avoid avoidance. Let’s say you obsess about skin cancer and refrain from going outside on clear days. Sure, you’ll feel more at ease by staying indoors, but that doesn’t help in the long run. Building habituation would mean going outside for short intervals, and then over time increasing them while taking precautions like applying sunblock and wearing a hat.
It’s all about unlearning this fear and challenging this belief.
Choose The Right Therapist
You need to put in the work, but that requires finding the right therapist. Seek out a therapist who has a specialty in ERP, and upon your first session, go with your gut to determine if they’re the right fit. This is crucial because only two-thirds of patients complete treatment, often because they don’t buy into the rationale behind ERP.
Managing anxiety is hard work, but the reward can be life-changing.
About Chicago Mind Solutions
Chicago Mind Solutions is a leading provider of anxiety disorders treatment in the Chicagoland area. Learn more about our approach, as well as many other conditions by contacting us at (224) 723-5050 or info@chicagomindsolutions.com.
