OCD Therapy For Men
OCD Treatment in Overland Park, KS
Obsessive-compulsive disorder doesn’t have to rule your life.
Effective help is available near you.
What is OCD?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a diagnosable mental health condition. People with OCD experience intrusive thoughts, mental images, or urges. These “obsessions” can be very distressing and often go against a person’s morals.
To cope with these thoughts, mental images, or urges, people with OCD will use “compulsions” to reduce their discomfort. Compulsions can take up a great deal of time and ultimately make OCD worse.
OCD can take many different forms. Some of the most common OCD themes are:
Contamination
Perfectionism or things being “just right”
Harm to self or others
Scrupulosity
Relationship OCD
Sensorimotor
Sexual harm
None of these obsessions are a reflection of your character. Instead, it’s OCD attacking what you care about most.
OCD Treatment
The best way to treat OCD is with a therapy called “exposure and response prevention” (ERP). It is one of the only evidence-based treatments for OCD.
Other types of therapy only exacerbate OCD. ERP helps you confront your obsessions head on and breaks the OCD loop.
While other types of therapy may claim to treat OCD, someone seeking OCD treatment should be wary of these claims. Time and time again, research supports ERP as the gold standard for OCD treatment.
Exposure and Response Prevention
How does ERP work?
ERP works by interrupting the OCD loop. When you practice ERP, you learn to sit with uncomfortable thoughts instead of trying to stop them. Over time, your intrusive thoughts get less intense, and you learn how to handle the discomfort they bring.
How is ERP different from other therapies?
Many therapies teach you how to neutralize upsetting thought patterns. This can be helpful with some disorders, but not with OCD. Trying to resist intrusive thoughts only makes them worse. Instead of teaching you how to stop OCD thoughts, ERP teaches you to accept them as meaningless and to be okay with the discomfort they create.
What is an example of ERP?
Let’s imagine a man who struggles with contamination OCD. Because of his fear of getting sick, he frequently washes his hands for over 20 minutes. A therapist practicing ERP would help this man practice a series of exposures, such as touching a dirty countertop or using the restroom without washing his hands. By practicing these exposures repeatedly, this man could break the OCD loop and be okay with the possibility of getting sick.
Can I do ERP on my own?
While you can technically do ERP on your own, it’s always best to seek treatment from a licensed mental health professional with training in ERP. There are lots of nuances to practicing ERP well, and doing it on your own could lead to unnecessary distress.
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One of the most important parts of OCD treatment is establishing a relationship built on mutual trust and respect.
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We need to find the areas of your life that OCD is attacking. Together, we’ll identify the themes of your obsessions, as well as the compulsions you use to control them.
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After identifying your obsessions and compulsions, we’ll create a list of exposures for you to participate in. You’ll practice these exposures both in and out of session until your brain “habituates,” leading to a reduction in anxiety.
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If you have more questions about OCD, check out this article I wrote.
What happens in ERP?
Have a question?
Let us know how we can help.