Cognitive Exposure Therapy to Conquer OCD

The more exposure you have to the triggers, the easier it will become to combat the symptoms. Thus, in this OCD article, our main focus will be on your triggers. Since each person is different, most of this article will comprise of worksheets and practices that you can use to discover your triggers and overcome them.

Write – On a piece of paper write out your triggers. Think back to times in your life when you felt compelled to wash your hands or clean constantly. Think of what caused you to perform such rituals. Next, move to review your information that you have written on paper.

Practice

This may be a little difficult but to overcome your obsessive-compulsive behaviors you must follow through. If you feel uncomfortable, ask someone that you can trust to sit with you through the practice. Expose yourself to the triggers that cause you to act ritualistically. Practice each day exposing yourself to those triggers until you start to feel more at ease.

In the next step we will walk you through a technique known as Interpretive Confrontation. The goal is to help you gain better insight of yourself.

Description – Interpretative confrontation therapy is designed to help you discover yourself more effectively. It is one of the most crucial components of mental wellness. Using the technique effectively you can personally grow if you use the communication and information with skill, empathy and integrity.

Characteristics of Interpretive confrontation –

Empathy is one of the characteristics of interpretative confrontation therapy. Empathy is the process of understanding problems of others’ behaviors and lifestyles. Another characteristic is timing. You should time your confrontations to prevent the receiver from becoming defensive. Relatedness is yet another characteristic that involves confronting the situations that relate to your problems or other people involved. Being concise is the process of confronting concisely what is stated to get to the point. Being genuine involves confronting others or things openly with interest and concern for the well-being of everyone involved. Lastly, tentativeness leads to interpreting suggestions in regards to something that triggers you, including others behaviors.

Practice

Take a few moments to confront one of your triggers head on. Don’t worry if you feel compelled to wash your hands, check to see if the doors or locked, etc. The point is to confront your symptoms to help you diminish the power of your symptoms. The more trigger exposure you subject yourself to the easier it will become for you to overcome your obsessive-compulsive behaviors.

Write – Write out your feelings, thoughts, etc each time you practice confronting your symptoms. Don’t forget to review your notes to find out what you discover. Use the characteristics of interpretative confrontation throughout the process.

Practice

Make it a daily habit to use triggers that cause you to perform rituals as a tool to master your symptoms.

Summary

In this OCD article, we discussed Exposure Therapy and how it can benefit you. While the article was short, it serves as a purpose to help you become acquainted with new ways to master your OCD. Only you know what triggers you, be sure to consider them and practice daily by subjecting yourself to the triggers to overcome OCD. Next, let’s move to overcome your fears.

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