By repeatedly triggering the fear or discomfort experienced when facing obsessions in a safe, controlled, and purposeful way, and without engaging in compulsive urges, our nervous system learns to “habituate” or reduce its reactions to obsessions and their triggers. By completing exposures, you also learn that any discomfort experienced is manageable without trying to suppress or control it and without engaging in compulsions. You learn how to tolerate and experience uncertainty without triggering the OCD cycle.

E/RP has good empirical support for use with children and adolescents. The primary difference between E/RP for adults versus for youth is that parents are incorporated into the treatment program for youth. This is because parents often get trapped as “unwilling participants” in the OCD avoidance/relief cycle that their child is trapped in, and incorporating ways to help parents reduce their accommodations for OCD while also providing support to their child is an important component to E/RP for OCD in adolescents.

Exposures in E/RP are done gradually and alongside a therapist who aids in the therapeutic process. It is important that any possible relief or escape behaviors are consciously resisted during exposure exercises in order to maximize therapeutic benefits. A therapist trained in E/RP can facilitate acceptance and habituation processes during exposure exercises and “prescribe” the pace and manner of exposures to match your readiness with an appropriate and therapeutic challenge.

The Anxiety and Depression Association of America has many resources for providers and the public on OCD treatment. On its website, you can find more information on E/RP, OCD support groups, and tools for helping support kids with OCD.