{"id":6836,"date":"2015-01-12T06:00:29","date_gmt":"2015-01-12T11:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=6836"},"modified":"2015-01-04T08:38:21","modified_gmt":"2015-01-04T13:38:21","slug":"treatment-approaches-for-ocd-what-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/01\/treatment-approaches-for-ocd-what-works.html","title":{"rendered":"Treatment Approaches for OCD: What Works"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ID-100159206\"<\/a>In any year, 1% of the U.S. population suffers with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) according to NIMH. OCD is characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce anxiety (obsessions) and behaviors or thoughts that reduce that anxiety (compulsions). Is is often debilitating.<\/p>\n

But a five step treatment approach can help. It is called Exposure plus Response Prevention. The five steps include the following:<\/p>\n

1) Anxiety is triggered. You feel anxious.<\/p>\n

2) Label that anxious feeling along with the thought that accompanies it. You must learn to label to disable the anxious thought.<\/p>\n

3) Once you label the anxiety, allow it to remain. Don’t try to resist it because we know the more you resist, the more it persists.<\/p>\n

4) Welcome the unwanted thought. Let it stay with you. Put up with it and don’t \u00a0engage in the compulsion. Prevent your normal compulsive response.<\/p>\n

5) Tolerate the uncertainty. You can do this. You can learn to sit with the uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Go through these steps over and over and eventually new neurological patterns will develop in your brain. The old patterns will eventually stop. Over time, the frequency and intensity of engaging in compulsions will abate.<\/p>\n

Expose yourself to the trigger, go through the five steps and resist the compulsion. Allow the anxiety to come and then go. The more you tolerate the feeling, the more likely it will extinguish over time.<\/p>\n

You may need to work with a therapist who is trained in Exposure Therapies. Find one who understands that the more you avoid anxiety, the more it persists. The key is to walk into the anxiety, greet it like a friend and tolerate it. Over time, anxiety loses its power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In any year, 1% of the U.S. population suffers with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) according to NIMH. OCD is characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce anxiety (obsessions) and behaviors or thoughts that reduce that anxiety (compulsions). Is is often debilitating. But a five step treatment approach can help. It is called Exposure plus Response Prevention.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[925],"tags":[135,3165,3166,2422,3164,2971,3163],"class_list":["post-6836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mintle-mentions","tag-anxiety","tag-compulsions","tag-exposure-plus-response-prevention","tag-exposure-therapies","tag-obsessions","tag-ocd","tag-treating-anxiety"],"yoast_head":"\nTreatment Approaches for OCD: What Works<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/01\/treatment-approaches-for-ocd-what-works.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Treatment Approaches for OCD: What Works\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In any year, 1% of the U.S. population suffers with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) according to NIMH. OCD is characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce anxiety (obsessions) and behaviors or thoughts that reduce that anxiety (compulsions). Is is often debilitating. But a five step treatment approach can help. It is called Exposure plus Response Prevention.…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/01\/treatment-approaches-for-ocd-what-works.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-12T11:00:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-01-04T13:38:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2015\/01\/ID-100159206-300x199.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Treatment Approaches for OCD: What Works","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/01\/treatment-approaches-for-ocd-what-works.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Treatment Approaches for OCD: What Works","og_description":"In any year, 1% of the U.S. population suffers with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) according to NIMH. OCD is characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce anxiety (obsessions) and behaviors or thoughts that reduce that anxiety (compulsions). Is is often debilitating. But a five step treatment approach can help. It is called Exposure plus Response Prevention.…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/01\/treatment-approaches-for-ocd-what-works.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2015-01-12T11:00:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-01-04T13:38:21+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2015\/01\/ID-100159206-300x199.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/01\/treatment-approaches-for-ocd-what-works.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/01\/treatment-approaches-for-ocd-what-works.html","name":"Treatment Approaches for OCD: What Works","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/01\/treatment-approaches-for-ocd-what-works.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/01\/treatment-approaches-for-ocd-what-works.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2015\/01\/ID-100159206-300x199.jpg","datePublished":"2015-01-12T11:00:29+00:00","dateModified":"2015-01-04T13:38:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/01\/treatment-approaches-for-ocd-what-works.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/01\/treatment-approaches-for-ocd-what-works.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/01\/treatment-approaches-for-ocd-what-works.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2015\/01\/ID-100159206-300x199.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2015\/01\/ID-100159206-300x199.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/01\/treatment-approaches-for-ocd-what-works.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Treatment Approaches for OCD: What Works"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice & Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6836"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6844,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6836\/revisions\/6844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}