Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) Therapy
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is a therapy that involves Cognitive Behavior, to treat people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) experiences for one to be in control of their OCD. ERP requires that one should expose themselves in a set up that stimulates obsession for habituation to take place. Response prevention (RP), also ritual prevention involves the stoppage of behaviors that break off the anxiety when you encounter a situation that stirs up the tension. ERP tends to break one's compulsive thoughts, urges, images, and your unconscious response to lower the causal distress. What it does is to expose one to the situations that trigger obsession when one has no power to act on them.
Real-Life Account of ERP
In the real-life account of ERP, I had a cleaning issue by becoming more cautious when handling my younger sister. Whenever I had the responsibility to look after her, the problem would always emerge on the part of feeding her and doing any cleaning. I would think of the germs on her milk bottle, her toys, and would thoroughly sterilize them occasionally until it felt right to me. I had a lot of fears based on the impact it would cause like for example getting ill, which would be solely my mistake for not having taken time to ensure that it was spotless and not contaminated. It was, therefore, my duty to watch her and keep her safe to avoid anything going wrong.
Step-by-Step Procedure
I went through a step by step procedure which began with making a list of things that could trigger me. My thoughts that led to sanitizing my sister’s toys and her other kinds of stuff, the possibility of food remains or dust on the items around her were part of my list. I then arranged them in the order of those that caused the least anxiety to those that caused the highest concern. I addressed them in order, with my starting point as those that resulted to deep distress to those that led to high panic using a scale of 1:10(manageable fear compared to the high level of anxiety). After exposure to each thing on the list, I would come up with the best approach towards it. In my case, I used to have the fear to be the one doing the baby’s cleaning but developed a strategy of being the person in charge whether there was someone else in the house or not. It became my habituation the more I performed the role, and I managed it. There was no compulsion during and after handling my sister's food and toys after the completion of the plan. That’s how I managed to address and overcome my fears.
Success of the Exposure and Response Prevention Plan
My Exposure and Response Prevention plan to overcome my phobic habits while engaging with my sibling was a success. I was able to prevent the obsessional thoughts that I had not done things in the right way. To face my anxiety, I could resist my strong desire to execute my compulsive checking activities. My distress began to reduce, and it became a habit. I adapted to it, and it broke the connection of my obsessive thoughts and my compulsion. I had to change my cognitive view to overcome my fears on thorough cleanliness which I thought could avoid contamination to prevent illness. My behavioral therapy included getting into contact with my worries frequently, which involved looking after the baby solely on my own on a twenty-four-hour daily basis. My sensitivity lessened, and I was confident that ERP was a successful plan for my situation. With time, I had control over my uncomfortable feelings, and the formation of obsessive thoughts faded away wholly.
