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An abbreviated example of an exposure hierarchy is pictured in Image 1. Image 1: Exposure hierarchy example for treating public speaking fears. When exposure to an item at the bottom of the hierarchy leads to moderately reduced distress or increased tolerance, a client progresses up the hierarchy to more and more difficult exposures.
Exposure and response prevention (also known as exposure and ritual prevention; ERP or EX/RP) is a variant of exposure therapy that is recommended by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), the American Psychiatric Association (APA), and the Mayo Clinic as first-line treatment of OCD citing that it has the richest ...
Flooding, sometimes referred to as in vivo exposure therapy, is a form of behavior therapy and desensitization – or exposure therapy – based on the principles of respondent conditioning. As a psychotherapeutic technique, it is used to treat phobia and anxiety disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder .
The Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (DOCS) is a 20-item self-report instrument that assesses the severity of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms along four empirically supported theme-based dimensions: (a) contamination, (b) responsibility for harm and mistakes, (c) incompleteness/symmetry, and (d) unacceptable (taboo) thoughts. [1]
The goal of the therapy is for the individual to learn how to cope with and overcome their fear in each level of an exposure hierarchy. The process of systematic desensitization occurs in three steps. The first step is to identify the hierarchy of fears. The second step is to learn relaxation or coping techniques.
The imaginal exposure typically occurs during the therapy session and consists of retelling the trauma to the therapist. For the in vivo exposure, the clinician works with the client to establish a fear and avoidance hierarchy and typically assigns exposures to these list items as homework progressively.
[2] OCD is a mental disorder characterized by obsessions and/or compulsions. [3] An obsession is defined as "a recurring thought, image, or urge that the individual cannot control". [ 4 ] Compulsion can be described as a "ritualistic behavior that the person feels compelled to perform". [ 4 ]
When OCD becomes severe, this leads to more interference in life and continues the frequency and severity of the thoughts the person sought to avoid. [21] Exposure therapy (or exposure and response prevention) is the practice of staying in an anxiety-provoking or feared situation until the distress or anxiety diminishes.