Why does cbt often fail to treat ocd?

CBT, cognitive behavioral therapy, teaches people to identify their unhelpful thought patterns and to think of them more logically. At OCD’s core, it convinces people that very unlikely scenarios are going to happen or have happened. If you were to apply CBT to this, it generally causes people to engage in compulsions, reassurance seeking and strengthens the OCD.

Let’s use an example! If someone has contamination OCD with regards to illnesses, that person may think, “what if I got sick from interacting with that person”. For example purposes, lets say the person they are worried about is showing little to no signs of illness.

If we were to apply CBT to this, CBT tells us to label this thought as catastrophic thinking or future telling. The next step in CBT would be to reframe the thought and think of it differently. The reframe could look like, “that person is not presenting as sick, it is highly unlikely I will get sick from them and if I do, I will be okay”.

What is problematic about this approach for people with OCD? OCD thrives off of uncertainty and telling yourself “it probably won’t happen or it’s probably not true”, will absolutely not help your OCD. Another thing that could happen with CBT is that you can start using it in a compulsatory manner.

The gold standard in OCD treatment is ACT & ERP. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Exposure with Response Prevention Therapy. If you are located in New Jersey and looking for OCD treatment please contact one of our therapists today. It is really important you find the proper techniques and care when treating OCD.

We offer treatment for OCD and therapy in Bergen County, Hudson County, Somerset County and virtually through out the rest of NJ. Call to talk to a therapist today!