Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is a proven, highly effective therapy for people living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) or a range of other conditions caused by anxiety. It may seem counterintuitive, but with all forms of stress, anxiety, and worry, the journey toward calming and healing the brain starts with deepening your relationship with what is causing your distress.

To heal OCD, it is important to know what is happening in the brains of people who continually experience it. The first element is obsessive fear, dread, uncertainty or disgust triggered by certain sensations, thoughts or images. This leads to the second element—compulsions—which are mental or physical responses to the obsessions. For example, if someone is obsessed with protecting themselves from viruses, they may clean themselves and their surroundings excessively to temporarily relieve their anxiety.

Note the term, temporarily, because these compulsions do not resolve the underlying issues in the long-term. As soon as something else triggers the obsession, the compulsions return again. ERP is how we break this cycle of compulsion and stress-avoidance.