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CBT/ERP: The gold standard treatment for OCD is a specialized form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) called Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP):

ERP for OCD/Exposure and Response Prevention

• Helps you gradually face feared thoughts or situations (exposure)

• Helps you how to stop compulsions or rituals (response prevention)

• Teaches you how to recognize and accept OCD, and learn how not to get fooled into believing OCD thoughts (Psychoeducation and cognitive and meta cognitive restructuring) • Teaches you how to disprove your old OCD fears and learn new healthy facts (cognitive restructuring and inhibitory learning).

Self-Help Tips for OCD: While waiting for a CBT/ERP therapist or to increase ERP gains, here are a few OCD coping strategies when anxiety spikes with OCD:

Label OCD Thoughts

Say: “This is an OCD thought” — don’t try to argue with it. Recognizing it is the first step toward not obeying it.

Delay the Compulsion

Start small. Delay the compulsive ritual by 5 minutes. This builds tolerance and breaks the cycle. Once you have delayed enough, it will be easier to give up.

Managing Intrusive Thoughts (e.g. Harm OCD)

Say: “OCD is telling me that someone I love will be harmed if I think of them getting harmed. That is a magical thought. Just because OCD says it doesn’t mean it’s true.

Test OCD thoughts and learn new facts (e.g., Contamination OCD)

OCD says: I will get sick and die if I touch public door handles

My test: I touch the subway door anyway and not wash my hands.

What do I expect now: OCD says I will get a bacterial infection and die in 24 hours.

What did I learn after 24 hours: I can touch a subway door and skip washing and still be alive.

Sit With the Anxiety (e.g., symmetry/ordering)

OCD says: Organize each book by size and color and make sure all edges are symmetrical. What you do instead: Let the anxiety rise and fall like a wave—without doing the compulsive ritual, even if it is uncomfortable or distressing. The feeling will gradually pass on its own, even if you don’t engage in the compulsion

Avoid Reassurance-Seeking

Is Reassurance seeking a compulsion? Yes, reassurance seeking in OCD is just another compulsion. Try not to ask others for certainty (e.g., “Are you sure I didn’t mess up?”).

Use “Lean In” Language

Instead of saying “What if this bad thing happens?”, try saying: “Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. I won’t know for certain. I’m choosing to move forward and face my fears anyway.”

Find an OCD Therapist (CBT/ERP)

Click here to contact us or reach out to us at (212) 595 9559 or 914 385 1150 and press extension 1 if you think you may have OCD and would like to find an OCD therapist in NYC / Manhattan / Upper West Side / Upper East Side / and in Westchester County / White Plains / New York or in virtual therapy sessions.

References

McGinn, L. K. (2015). The effectiveness of cognitive behavioral in treating OCD. Psychiatry Advisor. McGinn, L. K. (2015). A primer on obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Advisor

Leahy, R. L., Holland, S. & McGinn, L. K. (2011). Treatment Plans and Interventions for Anxiety and Depressive Disorders, Second Edition. New York: Guilford Press.

McGinn, L. K., & Sanderson, W. C. (1999). Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. New Jersey: Jason Aronson, Inc

Helpful Links:

NIMH: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/healt... thoughts-or-repetitive-behaviors-take-over

IOCDF: https://iocdf.org/ocd-finding-...