Treatment for OCD: Unleashing the Power of Exposure

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is estimated to occur in about 2.5% of the population (Karno, Golding, Sorensen,%Burnam, 1988). Before the emergence of exposurebased treatment, OCD was largely considered to be chronic. In its severe forms, it was associated with substantial long-term disability. The advent of exposure therapy (Meyer, 1966) was a therapeutic breakthrough that revolutionized psychotherapy for OCD and afforded relief to many individuals for whom no satisfactory therapeutic options were previously available. Despite numerous published treatment studies that have documented the efficacy of exposure treatment for OCD, it is not generally available to consumers, and alternative treatments, most notably pharmacotherapy by serotonergic compounds, and cognitive therapy (CT), have garnered substantial interest among clinicians, consumers, and researchers. How good is exposure treatment and where does it fall short? Satisfactory answers to these questions would point to the extent to which alternative or supplementary treatments are needed. This chapter will explore these issues.