Exposure and Ritual Prevention for OCD

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Decades of research has shown Exposure and Ritual Prevention (EXRP) to be an extremely effective treatment for OCD.  EXRP is a cognitive-behavioral therapy that provides significant reduction in symptoms and teaches individuals with OCD life-long skills to manage their disorder.

OCD involves obsessions, which are generally unrealistic thoughts that create anxiety, and compulsions, which are specific behaviors or thoughts aimed at reducing the anxiety.  For example, an obsessive thought about burglaries can cause a person with OCD to check a lock 15 times in order to feel reassured.  EXRP involves exposure to OCD anxiety-triggering situations, along with prevention of rituals to reduce the anxiety (e.g., lock door once).  Over time and repetition, the anxiety reduces, and he/she learns that the feared consequence does not occur (e.g., burglary).  In EXRP, the therapist and client together develop a list of triggering situations and gradually conduct exposures, with ritual prevention, until all situations are conquered and symptoms are improved.

Dr. Lichner's experience at Johns Hopkins University in interviewing over 200 families with OCD provided her the opportunity to understand in-depth the variety of symptoms of OCD and the effect it has on sufferers' lives.  At University of Pennsylvania's Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety (CTSA), Dr. Lichner spent eight years treating OCD and training therapists in the treatment.  The director of CTSA, Dr. Edna Foa, was the first recipient of the International OCD Foundation's Outstanding Career Award.

EXRP Presentations and Workshops

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EXRP presentations of any length can be provided based on the needs of your organization.  For intensive, hands-on workshops, which allow therapists to conduct EXRP with their clients immediately, 4-day and 3-day workshops are available.
The intensive workshop will:
  • Explain the underlying theory of EXRP
  • Describe empirical support for the treatment
  • Learn how to assess symptoms and severity 
  • Provide instruction in the essential techniques of EXRP
  • Allow participants to practice the techniques of EXRP with guidance and discussion
  • View excerpts from videotaped sessions conducted by experts to illustrate how to use EXRP
  • Discuss real-life case vignettes and discuss the subtleties of customizing treatment for individual clients
Participants will receive:
  • Certificate of completion
  • Continuing Education credits (CEs)
  • Workshop binder with slides, handouts, and additional reading
  • Discount on EXRP Therapist Guide
PictureOCD Treatment Therapist Guide



Dr. Lichner is coauthor of an EXRP therapist manual for OCD.
Click here for information about expert consultation post-training

Recent Workshops and Presentations by Dr. Lichner

Exposure and Ritual Prevention for OCD, 3-day Intensive Workshop, Minneapolis, MN

Prolonged Exposure for PTSD, 4-day Intensive Workshop, Minnesota Center for Psychology, St. Paul, MN

Encore Presentation:  Introduction to Prolonged Exposure Therapy for PTSD, Minnesota Psychological Association, St. Paul, MN
Implementing EXRP with Individuals Experiencing Affect Dysregulation: Implications from a Case Study.  Panel presentation at the annual convention of the International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation, Boston, MA

Exposure and Ritual Prevention for OCD, 3-day Intensive Workshop, Minnesota Center for Psychology, St. Paul, MN

Prolonged Exposure for PTSD, 4-day Intensive Workshops:
     - Fort Bliss, TX
     - Fort Carson, CO
     - Fort Campbell, KY

Invited Speaker, National Institute of Health and National Center of Disaster Mental Health, Tokyo, Japan, One-day Workshops:
     - Recent Advances in Prolonged
       Exposure Therapy for PTSD
     - PE Treatment for Traumatic and
       Prolonged Grief