Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder

In Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder, Dr. R. Reid Wilson demonstrates and discusses his cognitive–behavioral approach to treating obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD is a common anxiety disorder that involves obsessive thinking accompanied by compulsive behavior. Dr. Wilson's approach is to focus closely on a client's thought processes so as to make the client realize the irrational—and ultimately irrelevant—content of the obsessions.

In this session, Dr. Wilson interviews a female client with long-standing OCD cleaning and ordering rituals. He illustrates how to gain rapport, confront fearful belief systems, encourage motivation, and challenge the need for confidence. He clarifies the benefits of viewing OCD as a mental "game" in which she can "win" by changing her responses to the symptoms of the disorder. He explains the four primary homework assignments in his treatment of OCD: Treat the content as irrelevant, accept the obsessions when they arise, seek out uncertainty, and seek out distress.

This cognitive–behavioral approach focuses on the client's thoughts and on ways to bring the client to a realization of the irrationality of the content of obsessive–compulsive thought. In this video, the therapist demonstrates the approach in the following ways:

• interviews a patient with long-standing OCD cleaning and ordering rituals;

• illustrates how to gain rapport, confront fearful belief systems, encourage motivation, challenge the need for confidence;

• clarifies the benefits of viewing OCD as a mental "game"; and

• explains the four primary homework assignments in the cognitive "behavioral treatment of OCD."

R. Reid Wilson, PhD, is associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and a clinical psychologist in private practice in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Dr. Wilson is an international expert in the treatment of anxiety disorders, with books translated into seven languages. He is author of Don't Panic: Taking Control of Anxiety Attacks (1996) and Facing Panic: Self-Help for People with Panic Attacks; coauthor, with Edna Foa, of Stop Obsessing! How to Overcome Your Obsessions and Compulsions (2001), and coauthor of Achieving Comfortable Flight, a self-help package for the fearful flier.

He designed and served as lead psychologist for American Airlines' first national program for the fearful flier. Dr. Wilson served on the board of directors of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America for 12 years. He served as program chair of the National Conferences on Anxiety Disorders from 1988 to 1991. His free self-help Web site, anxieties.com, serves 500,000 visitors per year.

• Foa, E. B., & Wilson, R. R. (2001). Stop obsessing!: How to overcome your obsessions and compulsions (Rev. ed.). New York: Bantam Books.
• Swinson, R. P., Antony, M. M., Rachman, S., & Richter, M. A. (Eds.). (1988). Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Theory, research, and treatment. New York: Guilford Press.

APA Videos

• Behavior Therapy for Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder
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• Behavioral Therapy Over Time
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• Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy for Perfectionism Over Time
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• Cognitive Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder
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• Cognitive Therapy for Panic Disorder
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• Culture-Centered Counseling
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• EMDR for Trauma: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
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• Emotion-Focused Therapy for Depression
  Leslie S. Greenberg
• Ericksonian Hypnotherapy for an Impulse Problem
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• Family Therapy With Patients Having Physical Health Problems
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• Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy for Passive–Aggressive Personality Disorder
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• Play Therapy With a 6-Year-Old
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• Psychotherapy of Children With Conduct Disorders Using Games and Stories
  Richard A. Gardner
• Practical Psychotherapy With Adolescents
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• Schema Therapy
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• Treating Adolescents With ADHD
  Robert J. Resnick
• Treating Clients With Generalized Anxiety Disorder
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• Working With Children With ADHD
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APA Books

• The Heart and Soul of Change: What Works in Therapy
  Edited by Mark A. Hubble, Barry L. Duncan, and Scott D. Miller
• Helping Clients Forgive: An Empirical Guide for Resolving Anger and Restoring Hope
  Robert D. Enright and Richard P. Fitzgibbons
• How Clients Make Therapy Work: The Process of Active Self-Healing
  Arthur C. Bohart and Karen Tallman
• Therapy With Difficult Clients: Using the Precursors Model to Awaken Change
  Fred J. Hanna
• Virtual Reality Therapy for Anxiety Disorders: Advances in Evaluation and Treatment
  Brenda K. Wiederhold and Mark D. Wiederhold
• Vulnerability to Psychopathology: A Biosocial Model
  Marvin Zuckerman