CBT for OCD: How It Works and What to Expect

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychological condition that causes intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions). Typically, obsessions are intense thoughts or images that are incessant and cause anxiety-inducing sensations that can only be relieved by carrying out compulsions. 

While OCD is a term that gets thrown around in casual conversation — usually to describe someone who likes things neat and orderly — it’s actually a serious condition that can cause significant distress and disrupt daily life. 

While there is no cure for OCD, many effective strategies can help you manage it.

At RapidRecovery TMS in Wilmington, North Carolina, our team offers many of these OCD treatments, including medications and psychotherapy (talk therapy). One talk therapy strategy proven very effective for OCD is called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). 

This month’s blog explains CBT and how it can help you manage your OCD.

What is CBT?

CBT is a talk therapy technique that helps you identify negative or destructive thought patterns that are directly influencing your emotions and behaviors. Once those thought patterns are identified, CBT replaces them with more desirable and constructive ways of thinking and acting. 

This form of talk therapy uses many strategies, including:

• Keeping track of your daily thought patterns and reviewing them later
• Confronting your anxiety triggers head-on in a safe environment 
• Practicing problem-solving and healthy coping mechanisms
• Role-playing interactions with others

By practicing these things, you can gain better awareness of your automatic responses to worrisome situations, see anxiety-inducing circumstances more clearly and realistically, and healthily cope with your triggers.

How CBT works for OCD

When used for OCD, CBT has two subtypes that are incredibly beneficial for OCD anxieties and thought patterns. Let’s take a closer look at each:

Exposure and response prevention

Part of CBT is facing your fears head-on while our team is there to help you through it. That’s exactly what exposure and response prevention (ERP) does. 

During an ERP session, we gradually expose you to things or situations that trigger your obsessions and compulsions. Over time, you will learn to respond differently without carrying out the compulsion. 

Cognitive therapy 

This portion of CBT focuses more on harmful thought patterns. 

For example, if you have an intrusive thought or image about harming someone else or saying something inappropriate, you might immediately feel horrified and try to push the thought away and suppress it. However, in many cases, this can make the thoughts and images worse, compelling you to carry out compulsions to lessen the anxiety and thought intensity. 

Cognitive therapy encourages you to address the thought and talk yourself through it, reminding yourself that the imagined scenario has never happened before and is highly unlikely to occur. This helps separate yourself from the obsessions and should lessen the anxiety from the intrusive thoughts over time. 

Get expert OCD treatment

If you’d like to learn more about how CBT can help reduce your OCD symptoms, schedule a consultation by calling our office or using our online booking feature today.