Exposure Response Prevention: What is it and how does it work?
Mariella Arceo
Jun 23, 2022
Exposure response prevention, also known as exposure therapy or exposure response prevention therapy, is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy used to treat anxiety disorders. It works by exposing people to the things that scare them in a controlled and safe environment. This allows people to face their fears without feeling overwhelmed or panicked. In this blog post, we will discuss what exposure response prevention is and how it works. We will also talk about the benefits of exposure response prevention therapy and who can benefit from it.
What is exposure response prevention?
Exposure therapy was first developed in the 1950s as a treatment for phobias. It has since been found to be effective in treating other anxiety disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
Exposure therapy works by helping people to confront their fears and learn new, more adaptive ways of responding to them. Exposure therapy is usually conducted with the help of a therapist, who will work with you to gradually exposure yourself to your fear. The therapist will also teach you how to manage your anxiety and cope with your fear in a healthy way.
Exposure therapy has been found to be an effective treatment for anxiety disorders. In one study, exposure therapy was found to be more effective than relaxation training in treating people with PTSD. exposure therapy has also been found to be effective in treating OCD. A review of studies found that exposure therapy was more effective than medication in treating OCD.
Avoidance reinforces fear
In addition, exposure therapy helps minimize fear and reinforces the fears that arise. It's important because avoiding anything we're afraid of sends an enormous warning to our brains that there are good causes of such fears and that our brains are incapable of responding to them. Let's consider a case study on how exposure promotes habitual behavior.
What is an example of exposure and response prevention?
An example of exposure therapy is a case of an individual with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms. OCD has obsessions, which are intrusive thoughts, images and urges that cause anxiety and distress. Compulsions are a response to these obsessions that individuals with OCD perform to ease their distressing thoughts about their obsessions.
Take for example a man with germ-contamination fears who is obsessed with keeping clean by performing hour-long cleaning rituals. Applying exposure response prevention to this case could be making the individual shake hands, the exposure, without being followed up by hand washing, the response prevention.
Exposure Therapy
Habituation: The backbone of exposure therapy
Exposed-based treatment uses the habituation process. Habituation occurs in people who have been exposed repeatedly to the stimulus or stop responding and paying the attention to the stimulus. The entire human experience is filled with habit. Often people will be aggravated by the noise of a busy highway near the home. Each and every day the sounds on a road fade to a quiet silence before being noticed. The person becomes comfortable with the sound of the highway.
How long does it take for ERP therapy to work?
On average, an individual may see results after 12-20 sessions of repeated exposure therapy but results still depend on the severity of the case. Of course, everyone has different cases and may respond differently to ERP therapy; some may respond quicker and some may have a slower response.
In a study conducted in 2019, exposure and response prevention therapy has been shown to have clinically significant improvement in OCD symptoms in 50-60% of patients. This shows that ERP works.
If you or somebody you know could benefit from the effects of ERP therapy, do not hesitate to reach out to Mosaic Minds Counseling. Your worst fears do not have to control your life, they can end at your therapist's office. It all starts with deciding that you want to reach out to a therapist.
