Exposure and Response Prevention Treatment
You’re tired of the anxious thoughts that continue to pop into your head. You’ve tried everything to get these uncomfortable thoughts out of your mind but you’re feeling stuck doing the same things over and over again. You’re starting to wonder why these things aren’t working as well as they used to. Your anxiety is beginning to come back quickly and more intensely.
If you’re wondering why this sounds so much like you, it’s because you’re not alone and there is help for what you’re going through.
Exposure and Response Prevention Treatment Can Help
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the gold-standard treatment for obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs). It has become the first line of treatment for OCRDs and is frequently used to treat anxiety since it has proven to decrease symptoms and improve long-term recovery. Simply put, ERP is a type of treatment that focuses on confronting fears (the exposure part) and resisting behaviors (the response prevention part) that you believe will make the anxiety “go away”. ERP treatment should be conducted by professionals trained specifically in providing ERP treatment. Fortunately, the therapists at Anxiety Center of Tampa have been trained in providing ERP to those struggling with OCD in the Tampa Bay Area. In addition, due to the growing popularity of Telehealth services, those all across Florida can now access ERP treatment from our therapists as well.
What is ERP Treatment?
ERP is a type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that focuses on behavior. There are two parts to ERP treatment: the exposure part and the response prevention part. Before you begin treatment, you and your ERP therapist will identify a list of triggers. You will then work together to develop a hierarchy of exposures for you to face. During the exposure phase of treatment, you will confront these thoughts, images, objects, and/or situations. One of the goals of ERP treatment is to experience habituation. Habituation is the process where a person’s behavioral and sensory responses to a trigger diminish over time. Therefore, the exposure part of ERP is essential to treatment to bring about anxiety. Once the anxiety is triggered, you will be guided by your therapist through response prevention. You will learn how to appropriately prevent a response to alleviate the anxiety triggered from the exposure. When these steps are repeated correctly, a person struggling with OCD can experience long-term relief from anxiety without having to do anything at all to make the anxiety away.
Who can benefit from ERP?
Adults, children, and adolescents can all benefit from ERP treatment as it can be individualized to meet each persons needs.
The following diagnoses can benefit from incorporating ERP treatment:
Anxiety Center of Tampa’s Approach to ERP Treatment
The therapists at Anxiety Center of Tampa understand the time, effort, and commitment needed to treat OCRDs. Our biggest pride is that we prioritize the clients needs and adjust treatment to meet those specific needs. We provide a combination of in-office and telehealth services, both of which can be helpful to ERP treatment. Our office is stocked with items that can be useful for conducting exposures for all OCD subtypes. Telehealth sessions can useful for accessing the home and having the client complete exposures in their natural environment.
Our therapists will also meet you in the community when the exposure calls for a specific location. For example, our therapists can clients at the mall, restaurants, in their homes, parks, or anywhere that an exposure can be helpful. This unique service has proven to help our clients as we understand that OCD does not just occur under the structured environment of an office. We encourage community involvement in order to apply treatment where it is needed with the goal that the client will learn how to apply treatment on their own.
Pawn representing a person ready to take on their fears and stand up to what makes them anxious. ERP requires facing your fears and obsessions related to OCD. Our anxiety therapists can help.
FAQs about ERP
How long does it take for ERP to work?
ERP is a highly effective treatment. When engaged in correctly, progress can be seen almost immediately. However, every person is different in terms of severity if illness, extent of compulsions, and motivation for treatment. It’s important for you to be open to engaging in exposures and to complete daily homework in order to set yourself up for success.
Is ERP scary?
ERP can be scary and sometimes difficult. This is because you will be facing triggers that you have normally avoided up until now. It can be uncomfortable to sit with anxiety instead of engaging in those behaviors that have become so demanding over time that don’t even work long-term. However, ERP treatment intends to trigger anxiety. If you’re feeling anxious and uncomfortable you’re likely doing it correctly, which means you’re on your way to making progress and getting better.
What kinds of exposures will I be doing?
An ERP therapist will work with you to identify sets of exposures that are appropriate for you. For example, someone with contamination OCD may be instructed to touch different doorknobs, shake peoples hands, or touch a garbage can. Gradually, the intensity of exposures will be increased over time. Eventually, the exposures listed before may not trigger anxiety anymore, therefore, you will move through your hierarchy to exposures like touching a toilet seat or the bottom of your shoes. This may sound bizarre and unnecessary, however, for someone with OCD, it is important to reach outside of what’s typical for treatment to have the best long-lasting results.
Why are some exposures things I would never do normally?
ERP therapists want a client to be prepared to cope with anxiety under many circumstances. While you may not typically reach inside of a garbage can and dig through trash, you may find yourself one day dropping something into a trash can by accident. If that were to happen, would you be able to reach in and recover what you lost without avoiding, ritualizing, or panicking? ERP prepares you to adjust to different circumstances and to accept the uncertainty of a situation so that you don’t become paralyzed by anxiety and fear.
If you have more questions about ERP and how it works, give us a call at 813-773-5807 or send us an email through our contact page.
Begin ERP Treatment with Anxiety Center of Tampa
You can start regaining control over your life as soon as right now! Our therapists are flexible and will work with you to create a schedule that works for you. Here our some easy steps to follow to start treatment today:
Send us an email through our contact page or call us at 813-773-5807.
Learn more about our therapists for OCD and anxiety before your first appointment.
Get ready to learn how to cope with anxiety so that you can live your life in accordance to your goals and values.