Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Mar;46(1):167-180.
doi: 10.1016/j.psc.2022.10.004. Epub 2022 Dec 26.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Affiliations
Review

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Samuel D Spencer et al. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by the presence of debilitating obsessions and compulsions. Cognitive and behavioral models of OCD provide a strong theoretic and empirical foundation for informing effective psychotherapeutic treatment. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for OCD, which includes a deliberate emphasis on exposure and response/ritual prevention, has consistently demonstrated robust efficacy for the treatment of pediatric and adult OCD and is the front-line psychotherapeutic treatment for OCD. Two case vignettes describing CBT for OCD in practice as well as recommendations for clinicians are provided.

Keywords: CBT; Case vignette; Cognitive behavioral therapy; Exposure and response prevention; OCD; Obsessive-compulsive disorder.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th edition, Text revision. American Journal of Psychiatry; 2022.
    1. Kessler RC, Berglund P, Demler O, et al. Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2005;62(6):593–602. - PubMed
    1. Ruscio AM, Stein DJ, Chiu WT, et al. The epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Mol Psychiatry 2010; 15(1):53. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Torres AR, Prince MJ, Bebbington PE, et al. Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Prevalence, comorbidity, impact, and help-seeking in the British National Psychiatric Morbidity Survey of 2000. Am J Psychiatry 2006;163(11):1978–85. - PubMed
    1. Brakoulias V, Starcevic V, Belloch A, et al. Comorbidity, age of onset and suicidality in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): An international collaboration. Compr Psychiatry 2017;76:79–86. - PubMed

Publication types