Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder that involves the client experiencing obsessive thoughts and/or compulsive thoughts and/or behaviors. Obsessive thoughts, or obsessions, are intrusive thoughts that enter one's mind involuntarily. While most people experience intrusive thoughts, it is someone who is diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder who becomes preoccupied with these thoughts and harps on them to the extent that these thoughts now maladaptively control his life. Compulsions are thoughts and/or behaviors that are meant to compensate for obsessions and get rid of anxiety, hand washing, checking, engaging in rituals or ordering things to temporarily relieve anxiety caused by obsessive thoughts. Compulsions may also be phrases people say to themselves in their own heads to counteract the excessive thoughts, such as praying or counting.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is an empirically supported approach to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder. Cognitive behavioral therapists analyze specific components that play a role in a client's disorder: the situation (usually beyond the client's control), the person's thoughts/cognitions about the situation, and the anxiety factor. Obsessive thoughts cause anxiety, which in turn lead the client to engage in compulsions to rid themselves of the anxiety, but it is this avoidance that only perpetuates the disorder.
Exposure and Response Prevention
Cognitive behavioral therapists often practice a technique called exposure and response prevention (ERP) when treating people with OCD. Exposure involves having the client face his or her fears and not allowing them to escape or avoid them with compulsions. Exposure therapy is done over a number of sessions and has been shown effective in alleviating obsessions and compulsions. Cognitive behavioral therapists also teach clients to relate to their thoughts differently, one technique is to postpone “obsession time” for five minutes, teaching the client that he has control over his thoughts rather than the thoughts having control over him.
For an updated, more in-depth look at this topic, see Standard vs. Intensive Treatment for OCD.