Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is a highly effective, evidence-based therapy for OCD and anxiety. It’s designed to help you break free from the cycles of fear, avoidance and compulsions that can feel overwhelming and hard to control.

If you struggle with OCD or anxiety, you may notice patterns like intrusive thoughts, constant worry, reassurance- seeking, or rituals that temporarily reduce distress. While these behaviors can bring short-term releif, the often keep the cycle going. ERP offers a different way forward.

Instead of avoiding what feels scary or trying to “fix” the anxiety, ERP gently helps you face it - one step at a time. Together, we’ll gradually approach the thoughts, situations, or sensations that trigger anxiety, while practicing not engaging in the usual responses (like compulsions or avoidance). Over time, this helps your brain learn that you can handle the discomfort, and that the fear doesn’t need to control your actions.

In our work together, you’ll learn how to:

• Face fears in a gradual, supported way

• Reduce compulsions, reassurance seeking, and avoidance behaviors

• Build confidence in your ability to handle anxiety

• Tolerate uncertainty and discomfort more effectively

• Feel less stuck and more in control of your choices

How ERP Can Help

ERP is considered the gold standard treatment for OCD and it’s very effective for many types of anxiety, incluyding panic, phobias, and social anxiety. For OCD, ERP helps you respond differently to intrusive thoughts so they lose their power over time (habituation). Instead of getting pulled into compulsions or mental rituals (rumination, checking, self-punishment, scanning thoughts and memories), you’ll learn hoe to allow thoughts to be there without acting on them. For anxiety, ERP helps you gradually face situations you’ve been avoiding, whether that’s social situations, uncertainty, or physical sensations of anxiety (i.e. anxiety sensitivity), by helping you build the ability to sit with discomfort instead of escaping it.