Topic
OCD
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) combines distressing intrusive thoughts with rituals meant to relieve that distress, which end up keeping it going. The reference psychological treatment is exposure and response prevention: you gradually face what frightens you without carrying out the ritual. The resources in this topic draw on this method and also cover related conditions, such as hair pulling and skin picking.
7 resources
For the public
Pulling out hair, picking at skin: taking back control
The hand that drifts up into your hair while you watch a series, the forty minutes spent at the mirror digging at a spot, and then the shame. This guide explains why people pull out their hair or pick at their skin without being able to stop, why willpower is not enough, and how habit reversal and changes to your surroundings can help you, step by step, to take back control.
OCD: the eight-step exposure programme
Why rituals relieve in the moment and make everything worse afterwards, why your most horrifying thoughts say nothing about you, and the exposure and response prevention programme, which means facing what triggers the anxiety without performing the ritual — the treatment with the strongest evidence base.
For professionals
These manuals are written for psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health practitioners. Anyone can read a preview; the full text is reserved for practitioners who have submitted proof of their professional status and who hold a professional plan.
Treating obsessive-compulsive disorder in children and adolescents: a therapist's manual
A fourteen-session protocol over twelve weeks, session by session, for obsessive-compulsive disorder in children and adolescents: cognitive behavioural therapy with exposure with response prevention, adapted to age and conducted with the parents. The OCD named as an opponent, the ladder of challenges, hidden rituals and reassurance questions, and two sessions reserved for the parents to reduce family accommodation and to hold firm during crises. The PANS and PANDAS hypotheses presented with caution, the place of medication, school, eight worksheets and full references.
Body dysmorphic disorder: a therapist's manual
A sixteen-session protocol, session by session, for body dysmorphic disorder in adults, with a section on adolescents. Safety first, because suicide risk is high, and a working agreement that never goes through a debate about appearance. Then the inventory of rituals, perceptual mirror retraining, exposure without camouflage and with response prevention, attention turned outwards, reassurance and those close to the person, thoughts, and what appearance is supposed to say about personal worth. Surgery and cosmetic procedures, muscle dysmorphia, the place of medication, ten worksheets to hand over and full references.
Trichotillomania and excoriation disorder: a therapist's manual
A ten-session protocol, session by session, for trichotillomania, excoriation disorder and the behaviours close to them, in adults and in adolescents. These are not anxious compulsions: they are body-focused behaviours, often automatic or soothing, which are treated differently from OCD. Records, awareness, analysis of triggers and functions, competing response, barriers in the environment, emotion regulation, acceptance of the urge and preparation for lapses. Differential diagnosis, medical complications to refer on, the place of medication, children and adolescents, shame and camouflage, worksheets to hand over and full references.
Hoarding disorder: a therapist's manual
A twenty-session protocol, eight of them in the person's home, for hoarding disorder in adults. Safety first — fire, falls, squalor, children, vulnerable people, animals — and coordination with social and health services. Then motivation, assessment in the home, sorting and decisions, non-acquiring, exposure to letting go, beliefs about possessions and organising. What sets this disorder apart from OCD, older people, forced clearances, those close to the person, harm reduction when treatment is not enough, worksheets to hand over and full references.
Treating obsessive-compulsive disorder in adults: a therapist's manual
A sixteen-session protocol, session by session, built on exposure with response prevention and on Salkovskis's cognitive model. Diagnostic criteria, assessment, goals, a step-by-step run-through of each session, common mistakes, working with the family, worksheets to hand the patient, and full references.
Other topics
- Addictions10
- ADHD6
- Anxiety34
- Attention & focus9
- Autism4
- Children & parents35
- Depression & mood25
- Eating disorders4
- Emotions24
- Gender identity1
- Grief7
- Loneliness5
- Longevity5
- Mindfulness1
- Neurocognitive disorders3
- Personality disorders12
- Psychosis8
- Relationships14
- Self-esteem7
- Sleep12
- Stress & burnout10
- Studying3
- Tics & Tourette1
- Trauma10
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