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perfectionism and - Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation

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6/14/13 <br />

Exposure therapy is: <br />

A set of techniques designed to help <br />

pa5ents confront situa5ons that elicit <br />

excessive or inappropriate fear <strong>and</strong> <br />

anxiety. <br />

The Treatment of Fear <br />

• Exposure to fear-­elici5ng<br />

s5muli or <br />

situa5ons <br />

• Resis5ng ritualis5c <br />

behaviors <br />

• Anxiety increases <br />

ini5ally, followed by <br />

habitua5on <br />

Fear level<br />

100<br />

90<br />

80<br />

70<br />

60<br />

50<br />

40<br />

30<br />

20<br />

10<br />

0<br />

Time<br />

Exposure <br />

• OCD symptoms are reduced when the person comes to <br />

believe his/her fears are unfounded <strong>and</strong> acts accordingly <br />

• Simply talking about probabili5es of danger is not as <br />

convincing as direct evidence from experience <br />

– Pa5ents need to directly confront their fears to truly master <br />

them <br />

• Exposure is a behavioral interven5on, but it changes <br />

beliefs about external cues, obsessional thoughts, <strong>and</strong> <br />

the experience of anxiety <strong>and</strong> doubt <br />

What Happens During Exposure <br />

• We don’t “unlearn” a fear, we acquire new learning <br />

that competes with previous learning <br />

• The current context determines our percep5on of <br />

danger or safety <br />

• The central task in ERP is to create context-­independent<br />

learned safety <br />

-23-<br />

2

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