Anxiety Therapy Orlando: How ERP Can Help with OCD
Anxiety Therapy Orlando: How ERP Can Help with OCD
If you or someone you know is dealing with OCD, you may already know how exhausting it can be. Whether it’s the fear of contamination, the overwhelming need for things to feel “just right,” or intrusive thoughts that overwhelm you with uneasiness, guilt, and shame, these thoughts can become unbearable. When this happens, you engage in endless rituals (compulsions)—wash your hands repeatedly, check locks until it feels “safe,” or mentally review your thoughts, correspondence, or events to ensure you didn’t miss something important. Still, deep down, you know these compulsions won’t stop the anxiety or prevent the worst from happening. Instead, they eat up your time, disrupt your relationships, and leave you feeling stuck.
But there are ways to manage and regain control of your OCD. Working with an Orlando therapist trained in ERP can help you find relief and manage your OCD symptoms.
What is ERP for OCD?
Exposure and Response Prevention, or ERP, therapy is considered the gold standard of OCD treatment. Studies have found that ERP can help reduce OCD symptoms in about 70% of people.
ERP is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) that involves voluntarily and repeatedly exposing yourself to the source of your anxiety, such as an obsession. By facing your fear multiple times, you can reduce its impact and develop healthy coping mechanisms for your anxiety. The core concept of ERP is that through repeated exposure to the triggers of your fear, you can retrain your brain to understand the irrationality of your obsession.
What to Expect in an ERP Session
Initial Assessment
While ERP may seem overwhelming, there’s no need to worry. In ERP therapy, you won’t immediately be thrown into your biggest fears. In your initial session with an Orlando therapist, expect to spend some time understanding your unique experience with OCD. Before you start doing exposure exercises, your therapist might ask you a lot of questions to understand your triggers and compulsions. This way, they can make the ERP treatment fit your needs.
The Fear Ladder
The next step in ERP therapy is developing the exposure hierarchy known as a fear ladder to test the identified core fear associated with your OCD symptoms. This exposure hierarchy includes a list of scenarios that you will be asked to rate from least distressing to most distressing.
Exposure and Response Prevention
After that, your therapist will expose you to each of these scenarios to help you learn that you can tolerate the distress that comes up with the intrusive thought or an obsession without having to engage in a compulsion.
Handling Anxiety
OCD follows a very cyclical pattern of using compulsions to alleviate any distress that’s associated with the obsession and intrusive thoughts. So, the goal of ERP is to break that pattern in the brain. Therefore, in sessions and outside of sessions, you are deliberately exposed to things that provoke an obsession or intrusive thought. And then you essentially ride the wave of anxiety, going through what’s called the panic peak. Your anxiety is going to rise, but it will fall. During ERP, you’ll learn how to handle anxiety without falling back into compulsive behaviors. Your therapist will guide you through strategies to sit with the discomfort until it fades. These usually involve breathing exercises, mindfulness, and grounding techniques. Over time, you will come to realize that you don’t have to rely on a compulsion to get to that other side of the panic peak.
Are You Ready to Take Control of Your OCD With Mindful Living Counseling?
Everyday life with OCD might feel overwhelming. However, OCD doesn’t have to control your life. Change is possible with the right support and tools. ERP offers a proven path to help you confront your fears and break free from obsessive thoughts and compulsions.
At Mindful Living Counseling in Orlando, FL, our team is here to offer you a safe, non-judgmental space, continuous support, and encouragement throughout the ERP process.
How Can Anxiety Therapy Orlando Help?
Contact us today to learn more about how ERP at Mindful Living Counseling in Orlando can help you manage your OCD and take back control.
Fill out our New Client Consultation Form
Schedule a consultation call with one of our anxiety therapists.
Begin your healing journey!
Additional Anxiety Therapy Orlando Resources
OCD and Anxiety & How They Are Connected
OCD and Its Impact on Daily Life
A Guide to Understanding and Overcoming OCD
An Anxiety Therapist Shares Everything You Need to Know About Anxiety
6 Anxiety-Friendly Activities to Do in Downtown Orlando
Anxiety Therapist Shares The Impact of Stress and Trauma on Our Reactions
Orlando Therapist: Understanding Therapy Jargon
Other Therapy Services Offered at Mindful Living Counseling in Orlando
Our team is committed to assisting you in navigating any difficulties you encounter. We offer a range of therapeutic services, such as Anxiety Treatment, Relationship Therapy, Trauma Counseling, EMDR Therapy, Support for Toxic Relationships, Teen Therapy, and Guided Meditation.
About Anxiety Therapist: Lauran Hahn
Lauran Hahn, LMHC, is a therapist in Orlando who focuses on working with individuals with trauma and recovering from toxic relationships. As a Certified Sensorimotor Psychotherapist and an EMDRIA Approved Consultant providing EMDR intensives, Lauran is committed to helping her clients achieve a sense of peace within their bodies, clarity in their thinking, and positive relationships with others.