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ERP therapy: OCD & intrusive thoughts
If your search is about ERP therapy for OCD, intrusive thoughts, or religious scrupulosity, begin with this focused interview. Exposure and response prevention is commonly shortened to ERP. Meghan Cromie explains the OCD cycle and discusses how treatment differs from repeatedly seeking reassurance about an unwanted thought.
Conversations hosted by Diana S. Rice, LMHC, CIMHP, QS.
A little context before you listen
What is exposure and response prevention (ERP)?
ERP is a form of CBT used to treat OCD. With a trained therapist, a person gradually approaches selected triggers while practicing a different response to compulsions. Assessment and collaborative planning come first; this guide does not provide a do-it-yourself exposure program.
Learn more: International OCD Foundation: ERP.
Which episode discusses religious OCD or scrupulosity?
Episode 114 discusses intrusive thoughts, reassurance, compulsions, and religious anxiety. The conversation explores scrupulosity without treating every question of faith or every unwanted thought as evidence of OCD.
Where would you like to begin?
Episode 114
Start here: OCD, intrusive thoughts, and religious anxiety
Meghan Cromie explains OCD, rumination, reassurance-seeking, and ERP. Diana and Meghan also discuss religious scrupulosity and the difference between the content of a thought and the cycle that keeps someone distressed. This is the archive’s dedicated ERP introduction.
Original episode: OCD, Intrusive Thoughts, and Religious Anxiety: How Exposure Therapy (ERP) Helps Break the Fear Cycle w/ Meghan Cromie
Questions to take with you
- What would I want a clinician with OCD and ERP experience to explain about assessment?
- How would treatment respect my beliefs while addressing compulsive responses?
These prompts are invitations to reflect, not a screening tool or a diagnosis.
Keep exploring the archive
The following episodes also mention ERP or exposure and response prevention in their titles, show notes, or available transcripts. Some mentions are brief. They are additional places to explore after the featured interviews.