5 MUST DO’s in ERP for OCD & Anxiety Exposures

5 Must Do’s for ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) is a video about important components of effective, evidenced based treatment for OCD and Anxiety.
First, DO YOU NEED MORE HELP WITH OCD & ERP?

👉🏼 If you are tired of your OCD and need help treating it with ERP so that you can feel better, I can help you.
Find out more about my course for OCD here:

👉🏼 Here is a link to a FREE SELF ASSESSMENT for OCD:

👉🏼 Here is a GIFT for you. A PDF for The Top 10 Things to Know to Practice ERP for OCD, Phobias & Anxiety:

Whether you are a therapist learning more about ERP, Exposure Therapy and Inhibitory Learning Theory, or a person who suffers from OCD, agoraphobia or other anxiety disorders, this video will help you grasp important elements of planning effective treatment.

After experiencing a client back slide from the progress he made in ERP therapy for his OCD, I began to research how to make ERP and Exposure Therapy for Anxiety and Phobias as effective and lasting as possible. I learned about the Inhibitory Learning Model (Craske et al, 2014), and how to make therapy more effective. What I learned in my research caused me to change my treatment methods for OCD, agoraphobia, health anxiety, phobias, social anxiety and more.

Prior to my research, I had been taught the Habituation Model or the Emotional Processing Model (Foa et al). In fact, you may have heard me talk about Habituation and monitoring the level of anxiety as an indication of success in my earlier videos on Pure O, ERP and Exposure Therapy. Current research has demonstrated that habituation, the process of our anxiety decreasing is NOT a good indicator of the success of ERP and Exposure Therapy. Sometimes habituation happens and sometimes it does not, but, it is not relative to effective therapy. Someone can learn and have effective ERP and Exposure Therapy even if their anxiety does not decrease.

Guess what...we experience anxiety in life. No surprise there. The method of treatment I now use, Inhibitory Learning Model, focuses on learning to tolerate anxiety, not eliminating it. In this video, using the acronym of S.A.V.V.Y., I describe 5 Must Do’s to include when planning and completing ERP for OCD, or Exposure Therapy for Anxiety Disorders like Agoraphobia, Phobias, Health Anxiety, Social Anxiety and more.

Here is a source to Maximizing Exposure Therapy (Craske et al, 2014)

S.A.V.V.Y. stands for:

S. Surprise Yourself
A. Anxiety Tolerance
V. Violate Expectations (Mismatch)
V. Vary Everything (Context, Triggers/Fear Cues)
Y. You (Tracking your ERP or Exposure)

Tracking may include:
What was your planned ERP or Exposure?
How did you feel before, during, and after?
What did you learn overall?
How will you change this up next time?

Incorporating these 5 Must Do’s into planning your next ERP or Exposure will ensure that you are getting the best results for your hard work.

If you would like to learn even more about make your ERP and Exposures more effective, watch this video right here:

#PaigePradko, #OCDwithPaige, #Exposure Therapy, #InhibitoryLearning, #CalmSeriesforAnxiety, #OCD, #Anxiety, #ERP, #ExposureandResponsePrevention,
#ERPforOCD,
#InhibitoryLearningTheory
#InhibitoryLearningModel

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Please comment below and feel free to ask me any questions. If you would like your question considered on an upcoming Q & A video, please let me know. Thank you for helping me spread mental health help and education.

Until next time...I will see you in session,

Paige

(Although Paige Pradko is a licensed psychotherapist, the views expressed on this video and this YouTube channel including comments or any related content should not be taken for medical, psychological or psychiatric advice. Any clients mentioned are fictional clients and any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental. Always contact your physician and mental health provider before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.)

Music:
Chasing Visions by vvano
Edited by Amy at Twin Suns Studio LLC

[PaigePradkoTherapy]

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👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼 This is a really helpful PDF: The Top 10 Things to Know to Practice ERP for OCD, Phobias & Anxiety:

👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼 Learn how to do ERP the right way: OCD course

👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼 Coupon Code for 10% Savings on Course for my YouTube Subscribers
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[JC.]

Guys let us not skip the ads. Let's support her. Paige is helping a lot of us by her videos

[tamrez]

You are such a precious human being, I have never met you yet I feel so loved by you and your videos provide me with much guidance and comfort. You are such a gift to us all

[ursulac.]

I needed this. As a person who experience chronic anxiety and thought that just changing my mindset will help, I now realize that I missed the part of exposing myself to new challenges.

[explorateurisaac]

Hello Paige,

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for answering all my questions the last time. I was the one that asked all those questions.

I have refrained from doing a specific compulsion because I'm just exhausted and OCD recovery needs to start somewhere, right? I am able to carry on with life, I don't feel a horrible fear. But I have a very stressful and annoying problem. When I try to fully live, I feel like I am still holding on to the problem very tightly. When I focus on this problem, I enter this horrible cycle of rumination where I feel a lot stress more than fear.

I desperately want to be free from this chain but feel chained still. In fact, I start to think that it's better to suffer trying to get the "just right" compulsion than to endure the rumination cycle. I'm able to stop rumination at times and I feel normal again. But in the back of mind I think: Are you sure you can really carry on normally? You can enjoy this moment but you know damn well you have a big problem. Then I focus back on the problem.

When in this thought process, I don't feel the fear of doing exposure. I feel stress and anxiety due to rumination, I feel stuck. I do exposure but then I have to deal with rumination. I have noticed that these OCD feelings are very powerful. Is this where cognitive restructuring comes in? Could I be going through this because of so many years of feeding the cognitive distortion and now it's a habit?

While researching psychodynamics, I self analyzed and realized that I have a certain natural desire that I try to satisfy. But with OCD, my core fear is a specific type of emotional suffering. My OCD case involves not being able to satisfy this desire because intrusive thoughts enter and according to my cognitive distortion, will cause emotional suffering right when I want to satisfy my desire. So it's two opposites that mix and I get triggered. I have hope. I firmly believe that recovery is possible and that I can be the boss of my life and not OCD. I really want my brain to learn that I don't need compulsion or protection to feel safe. Any advice is much appreciated!

Thank you in advance Ms. Pradko.

[arjunmrao]

Madam, rewatched the video once more just now, Nice to see that you are recalibrating your methods and fine tuning them for good.. In my recovery now, I somehow feel that the last part of healing and consolidation is not happening in me completely despite myself being focused & putting efforts.. Your new model will help me SURELY.. In SAVVY Surprise Yourself - is very true, The more surprised I become with the exposure and do the right necessary things later on, the better & more comprehensively I heal (Exactly like in Bodybuilding, the more we stimulate the muscle from different angles, the more the muscle goes in shock & to cope up with the shock it the muscle grows in size & strength (grows new muscle cells HYPERTROPHY) and this is how we get bigger better and stronger overall (varying the angle of stimulation of the muscle(S)) .. Brain is also a muscle after all....All the remaining aspects discussed in the above video are great as well.. A V V Y 👌👍... Dear Ollie looks away from the camera all the time, but that's OK whatever he does is Cute.. He is in the frame that's very important, he has great screen presence.. He is a Big Star, whatever he does on screen, he can get away with it, like a Big Movie Star! (We Love You OLLIE)

[maggiefernandez]

Thank you for another great video Paige! Would this work on depression? For example on depressed thoughts that tell you " you shouldn't" "what for" "no point" etc.

[BeingBetter]

I have recently started seeing a therepist through the phone, hoping to work on agoraphobia. She focuses on dreams and art therepy. I don't know what to expect so far. It hasn't been long enough to decide what I think. I'll still watch your videos for agoraphobia help. I'm doing about the same as always with that.

[myahkgatsby]

Wonderful video Paige! I have missed your videos, I noticed you haven't posted in a month. I hope you are doing well, and hope we will see a video from you pretty soon. 💗

[explorateurisaac]

Hello there Paige. Thanks so much for all the amazing videos. I am still in my Pure OCD recovery and I am fascinated with what I learn about my brain. I’m convinced that with the right knowledge and the effort, I can recover to the point that this disorder doesn’t control me. I still have some questions and would greatly appreciate your views. I agree with Dr. Greenberg who says that in Pure OCD, rumination IS the disorder.

I can’t control my thoughts and have no intention in doing so. But, why do I have this urge to solve the problem, to protect myself from the perceived danger even though I know that I am safe. Is it because I have followed this harmful thought pattern for so many years? If I continue to not solve the problem, will this urge to ruminate eventually disappear? As if I’m creating a new neuro path for my thoughts to go on.

I imagine that fully accepting thoughts will discourage rumination. Because why try to solve something that you’ve already accepted.

Could it be that I have 2 paths in my brain. The one I’ve followed for many years which is rumination and what ifs. And another one that accepts the thoughts and recognizes that I simply can’t control thoughts. It’s like a violent war between these two paths. Hope to hear what you think of this. :)

[explorateurisaac]

I feel very blessed to have found your channel! I love your serenity, humility, and sweet way of explaining! Thank you for providing the most recent research also! And I love the video editing! I decided to start my "Pure O" OCD recovery and your content is very useful. I believe in inhibitory learning, in fact I'm proud to say that ERP has helped to inhibit most of the fear conditioning in my OCD. My goal is complete inhibitory learning of the fear associations in my OCD. Paige, I would appreciate it if you answered these questions please! 1.) What is cognitive restructuring and why shouldn't I do it when I do ERP? 2.) Since fear associations remain, it makes sense to get quick rushes of fear. I get this when I ruminate a bit or sometimes randomly. It feels horrible. If I continue ERP correctly, can I eliminate these rushes of fear or will I need to deal with them always when they show up? 3.) Do you have any tips on ocd recovery? Would it be a good idea to track rumination. For example taking it day by day. While carrying out ERP. This is the only way I think I can eliminate rumination. 4.) Are there medications that help so that inhibitory learning sticks and also decrease rumination? 5.) Many say inflammation plays in a role in anxiety. What is your opinion and what lifestyle choices help in OCD recovery? Thank you Paige!

[Squadbusterskingz]

I have this thought like " i will go awkward now " and worry about my face emotions and then i go awakward. This thought never go away since 12 years ago. Is this ocd or trauma? Please help me anyone my life is destroyed 😢 i can't handle it anymore its runnied all my life i swear to god 😢

[saidfarid]

Hi dear professor
Thank you so much for your help and advice.
I really appreciate your job. I wish you peace and happiness under the sky of prosperity.
All the best.
Take care and have a good time.
Your follower from Algeria

[jayson]

Thank you for this video! I do have a doubt though. If you're unable to go for therapy and try ERP at home, how do you know which exposures are appropriate? I've had some people say that their therapist wouldn't ever make them do something they wouldn't, while some others have said we should go beyond what people usually feel uncomfortable doing as well. (I read a few other comments saying they deal with the feeling of disgust (contamination OCD), I too deal with the same issue. ) What do you recommend, and how do we choose the exposures? Do we do anything differently when it comes to disgust, or does everything in ERP and otherwise remain the same?

[pragya]

Hi, your videos are really awesome and helpful for all humanity . Thanks a lot for these beautiful efforts . I also want to ask u something . In any future videos plz try to tell more about contamination OCD exposures . I dont feel anxious while imagining contamination ocd exposures but feel anxious while try to do in real . To be specific, I have ocd for toxic and unknown chemicals, radiations and those particles stick from one thing to next and next, them comes the harm ocd that i may become spreader . My reaction was aggravated from the time my father was diagnosed with a tumour, He is fine now, but I feel really anxious from last 7-8 years .
Your reply will be highly appreciated, but even if u dont, you still are doing really great job . Thanks .

[larrybacheller]

Hi Page. If you try to do exposures and think about your O, are you rewiring your neuropath ways to think about it MORE often?

[kristymarie]

I had an ocd relapse after 15yrs. I moved, my brother passed away and the pandemic hit. I haven’t had it this bad in a long time so I had to relearn everything. I’m doing better now after 2 months but still having instrusive thoughts( seems anxiety has gone down a lot) I’m doing exposures and I don’t seem to be bothered by them it’s kind of a relief after I do them I don’t get anxiety like most people. Is this normal? I have pure o

[ΆκηςΤσακίρης-ξξ]

Hello. This is a great video and i have to say that it seems a little bit strange to me because i have used the habituation model. The model that you suggested seems to me less goal - oriented because, if im not mistaken, i suppose that you dont do an hierarchy of the exposures. So, if there is no hierarchy, how exactly are you planning the exposures? I definetely want to give this model a try because as you said theres a lot of research behind. Ans something more? In which disorders are you using erp and exposure therapy, except OCD? You are doing great work with your channel!

[emimilek]

Also I had many other changes, stresses and loses in a short period of time and I don’t know should I continue ERP or start relaxation techniques. For last three weeks I am having nearly constant anxiety, not much eating and sleeping. I am all confused about what to do.

[vimasharma]

Thankyou for video mam. Mam I have pcod and anxiety n panic disorder are they related to each other?