Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is a therapy designed to help us confront, and therefore come to terms with, our most difficult thoughts and emotions. ERP was originally designed specifically for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and the obsessive thoughts and compulsions that come with it. It has come to be used to help treat addiction, anxiety, depression, and other co-occurring disorders. ERP is one of the many effective therapeutic treatments offered at Athens Area Commencement Center.
Exposure and Response Prevention: Obsessive Thinking
Those of us with OCD are familiar with the obsessive, intrusive, sometimes disturbing thought patterns characteristic of OCD. Many of us who struggle with addiction or another mental health challenge like depression or anxiety also experience recurring thoughts that bring us a great deal of distress and anxiety.
Exposure and Response Prevention: Fear Responses
With intrusive thoughts, feelings of anxiety and panic, or any other difficult symptom, our instinct is usually to try to put a stop to them. Our natural fear responses kick in whenever we perceive a threat. We try to make these unwanted thoughts and feelings go away. Any attempts to lessen or silence our difficult thoughts and feelings often backfire, however. Our fear-based thought patterns thrive on our fearful resistance to them and become amplified.
The more we fear the thoughts and feelings, the stronger and more overpowering they become. Those of us with OCD, addiction, anxiety disorders, and depression can find our obsessive thoughts and feelings so relentless that we feel totally powerless against them.
Exposure and Response Prevention: Facing Our Fears
One solution considered the gold standard treatment for OCD is ERP. The approach with ERP is to expose ourselves to our triggering thoughts while simultaneously preventing ourselves from doing our typical response or compulsion. With ERP, instead of avoiding or resisting our fears, instead of feeding the fear with more fear, we’re choosing to face those fears head-on. We’re intentionally, consciously initiating the thoughts and exposing ourselves to the underlying fears within them.
Response Prevention
At the same time, we’re preventing ourselves from engaging in our usual response. This response can be a physical or behavioral compulsion, such as self-harming, or it can be a mental compulsion, like needing to repeat a specific prayer a certain number of times in order to be forgiven.
Addictive Compulsions
When struggling with addiction, our compulsion might be to use our drug of choice. Our addictive patterns can feel compulsive and totally out of our control. Just like our obsessive thoughts, we can feel totally overpowered by our addictive urges and compulsions.
Exposure and Response Prevention: Habituation
Through the process of habituation, we grow more accustomed to the thoughts we’ve been trying to avoid. The thoughts become neutralized, less triggering, and distressing. Our fear responses and the need to engage in compulsions gradually lessen. Eventually, the painful thoughts can become benign to us, just like any other normal thought we might have. Our compulsive behaviors can become a distant memory.
It is important to note that when first starting ERP, symptoms can worsen before they improve. The process invites us to be patient, stay consistent, and have faith that we will heal.
Exposure and Response Prevention: Self-Affirmation
Exposing ourselves to our triggering thoughts and preventing our compulsions is far from easy. Even with professional help, the content of our obsessive thoughts can be particularly distressing for us. We feel guilty and ashamed of ourselves because of our thoughts. The subjects of our obsessions and our addictions can bring up a great deal of fear and panic for us.
We can use the power of self-affirmation to help us face our fears while doing this intense emotional work. Reprogramming our subconscious default thought patterns is perhaps the most important tool we can use alongside ERP. We can consistently tell ourselves we are strong enough and brave enough to face our fears. This can help us to withstand and overcome our addictive urges and compulsions.
Try affirming to yourself how brave, strong, and resilient you are. Set the intention to remember how far you’ve come. Acknowledge how much you’ve already overcome in your recovery journey. Give yourself the encouragement you need to face your biggest fears.
Exposure and Response Prevention: Healing Our Fears
We can use ERP to face the fears underlying our addictions, anxiety and depression, and any other challenge. In doing the work, we’re confronting past traumas and wounds head-on in order to heal and move forward. We learn to confront our emotions, feel them, and heal them rather than becoming debilitated by them.
What thoughts and feelings could benefit from using ERP in your own life? Are there addictive behavioral patterns and obsessive thought patterns you’ve been afraid to confront? Examine your obsessive thoughts, compulsions, triggers, and emotional responses. What thoughts make you want to run and hide? Are there feelings in your life you’ve been avoiding?
With ERP, you’ll begin the process of bravely confronting those thoughts and feelings rather than avoiding them, which takes away their power over you.
Exposure and Response Prevention: Finding Peace and Acceptance
When facing the things we find most difficult, we release our resistance and practice acceptance – acceptance for our addictions, our fears, and ultimately for ourselves. With time, you’ll develop an even greater sense of self-acceptance. One day, you might find yourself accepting yourself unconditionally, whatever fears you might have.
ERP can help us to find peace amidst our most difficult thoughts and behaviors. It allows us to shift our thought patterns, our emotional patterns, and our behavioral patterns. This kind of deep healing helps us achieve sobriety and maintain a successful recovery, especially with the help of effective treatment programs like those at Athens Area Commencement Center.
Recovering from addiction and mental health challenges requires that we face our fears head-on. You are stronger than you know, and you are braver than you might feel right now! Your fears don’t have to overpower you, and you don’t have to face your fears alone. At Athens Area Commencement Center, we utilize effective therapeutic modalities like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure and response prevention (ERP) as part of our treatment programs. ERP has been shown to be effective at decreasing the distress we experience around our difficult thoughts and emotions. Our treatment plans are individually customized, specifically to you and your needs. Call (706) 546-7355 today for more information on our addiction recovery programs.