Exposure and Response Prevention

afraid of, but ERP has been proven across multiple research studies to be an
effective way of helping people overcome their symptoms of
OCD.
With practice, many people find that ERP means they’re less bothered
by
intrusive thoughts, feel less anxious, and are more free to live their
life
without
OCD.

Fill in the Exposure and Response Prevention form whenever you conduct a
session of ERP.
Start by describing the obsessions and compulsions that arise in
the
situation you’ve chosen to
face:
• Situation / trigger: Choose the situation that you will expose yourself
to
with ERP.
• Obsessions: Describe your typical obsessive thoughts and fears in this
situation.
Compulsion
What do I do to make myself feel better
when I get the obsession?

• Compulsions: Describe what you typically do to prevent an

unwanted
outcome when you have these obsessions.

To carry out exposure and response prevention:

1. Expose yourself to the triggering
situation.
2. Resist performing your
compulsions.
3. Use the graph to record how distressed you feel as time passes.

• Practise completing some ERP in session with your therapist at least once
before practising on your
own. your record nearby so you can rate your distress throughout
• Keep
the
session. Try to do this every 10 minutes.
• You will need to do ERP long enough for your distress to decrease.
A helpful rule is to do each exposure for around 1 hour, or until
your
distress has dropped by 50%.
• Repetition is one of the most important parts of ERP. Aim to do it
every
day for 1–2 hours. Your therapist might have recommendations
around
how you should use
it. on to your ERP records – it may be helpful to review them if
• Hold
your
obsessions or compulsions return in the
future.
Exposure and Response Prevention is about exposing yourself to a situation that triggers your obsessions
or compulsions (exposure), and then deliberately resisting the urge to carry out the compulsion that would
normally relieve your anxiety (response prevention).

Situation / Trigger
What situations trigger my obsession?

EX/RP Instructions
1. Expose yourself to the trigger.
2. Resist performing the compulsion.
3. Record how distressed you feel over time using the graph below.

Subjective 60
Units Of

Distress

(SUDS) 40
 How could this tool help me?

You might feel anxious about exposing yourself to something that you
are

How should I use it?

Obsessions are unwanted thoughts
and images that pop into your mind
that you find unacceptable, or that
make you feel anxious. Compulsions
are things that you do in response
to your obsessions, whether it’s to
stop harm from occurring, or to make
yourself feel better. If your obsessions
and compulsions interfere significantly
with your life, you might have
obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

Exposure and response prevention

(ERP) is an evidence-based treatment
for OCD. It involves exposing yourself to
a situation that triggers your obsession

(the ‘exposure’ part of ERP) and resisting

the urge to perform the compulsion
(the
‘response prevention’ part of ERP).

Exposure And Response Prevention

Obsession

e, urge or

4. If you do perform the compulsion, expose yourself to the trigger again.

20

No distress at all 0
0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 0 6 0 7 0 8 0 9 0 1 0 0
80
Time (minutes)
 Copyright © 2023 Psychology Tools Limited. All rights reserved.

Exposure And Response Prevention

Exposure and Response Prevention is about exposing yourself to a situation that triggers your obsessions or
compulsions (exposure), and then deliberately resisting the urge to carry out the compulsion that would
normally relieve your anxiety (response prevention).

Situation / Trigger Obsession Compulsion

What situations trigger my obsession? What is the thought, image, urge or What do I do to make myself feel better
impulse that bothers me? when I get the obsession?

EX/RP Instructions
1.Expose yourself to the trigger.
2.Resist performing the compulsion.
3.Record how distressed you feel over time using the graph below.
4.If you do perform the compulsion, expose yourself to the trigger again.
As bad as it can get 100

80

Subjective 60
Units Of
Distress
40
(SUDS)

20

No distress at all
0 0

®
 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (minutes)

PSYCHOLOGYT
Exposure And Response Prevention
Exposure and Response Prevention is about exposing yourself to a situation that triggers your obsessions or
compulsions (exposure), and then deliberately resisting the urge to carry out the compulsion that would
normally relieve your anxiety (response prevention).

Obsession Compulsion
What is the thought, image, urge or What do I do to make myself feel better
impulse that bothers me? when I get the obsession?

Image of my family Clean myself and

getting ill – it would be anything my family
my fault. might touch.

EX/RP Instructions
1. Expose yourself to the trigger. – Hold a used nappy.
2. Resist performing the compulsion. – Not wash my hands.
3.Record how distressed you feel over time using the graph below.
4.If you do perform the compulsion, expose yourself to the trigger again.
As bad as it can get 100

80

Subjective 60
Units Of
Distress
40
(SUDS)

20

No distress at all
0
LS
 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (minutes)

PSYCHOLOGYT