You’re tired of checking the door handle five times before bed. Exhausted from washing your hands until they’re raw. Fed up with intrusive thoughts hijacking your mind when you’re trying to focus on what matters.
ERP therapy doesn’t just manage symptoms—it breaks the cycle. You’ll learn to sit with uncertainty without performing compulsions. Those checking rituals that steal hours from your day? They lose their power. The contamination fears that keep you isolated? You’ll face them systematically until they no longer control your choices.
Within weeks, most people notice they’re spending less time on rituals and more time living. The relief isn’t temporary—it’s the kind of lasting change that lets you trust yourself again.
The Anxiety and OCD Institute brings together nationally recognized researchers, published clinicians, and advocates—many with lived experience of the conditions we treat. This isn’t generic therapy. This is specialized care from people who understand OCD from both clinical and personal perspectives.
Richardson families have been seeking effective OCD treatment in a community known for its high-achieving professionals and families. The pressure to perform perfectly in this telecom corridor can intensify OCD symptoms, making specialized treatment even more crucial.
Our team includes clinicians who have shaped international OCD treatment guidelines and written foundational books for the field. We’re committed to reducing stigma while providing the gold standard of care that actually works.
ERP therapy starts with understanding your specific compulsions and triggers. Are you checking, counting, washing, or mentally reviewing? Your therapist maps out exactly how OCD shows up in your life—not to judge, but to create a targeted treatment plan.
Next comes exposure planning. You’ll work together to create a hierarchy of situations that trigger your anxiety, starting with moderately challenging exposures and building up. These aren’t random exposures—they’re carefully planned, predictable, and done with skilled support.
The response prevention piece means learning to resist compulsions when anxiety hits. You’ll practice sitting with uncertainty and discomfort, discovering that anxiety naturally decreases without rituals. Each successful exposure builds confidence and breaks OCD’s hold on your life.
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Richardson residents have access to both virtual and in-person ERP therapy, including intensive four-day treatment programs for faster results. This concentrated approach accelerates progress that might take months in traditional weekly sessions.
Our treatment model serves children, adolescents, and adults, meeting clients where they are emotionally and culturally. In a diverse community like Richardson, this personalized approach ensures treatment fits your specific background and needs.
Sessions include individual therapy, family involvement when appropriate, and ongoing support between appointments. The goal isn’t just symptom reduction—it’s helping you build the skills to handle uncertainty and live fully, even when intrusive thoughts show up.
Most people notice significant improvements within 8-16 weeks of consistent ERP therapy. About 80% of people with OCD who complete ERP see meaningful symptom reduction during this timeframe.
The key factor is completing exposures between sessions. Research shows that people typically need 60-100 exposures combined with response prevention to see substantial, lasting benefits. Some people notice changes even sooner, especially in intensive treatment formats.
Your willingness to practice exposures at home significantly impacts how quickly you’ll see results. The more you practice facing feared situations without performing compulsions, the faster your brain learns that these situations aren’t actually dangerous.
Yes, ERP is fundamentally different from traditional talk therapy. While regular therapy focuses on discussing thoughts and feelings, ERP involves actually confronting the situations that trigger your anxiety.
Traditional cognitive behavioral therapy that focuses on challenging distorted thoughts can actually make OCD worse. OCD isn’t about having “wrong” thoughts—it’s about how you respond to intrusive thoughts that everyone has.
ERP works by helping you experience that anxiety naturally decreases without performing compulsions. You learn through direct experience, not just talking, that your feared outcomes are unlikely and that you can handle uncertainty.
ERP has decades of research demonstrating its effectiveness, with success rates of 65-80% for people with OCD. Major clinical organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association and International OCD Foundation, recommend ERP as the first-line psychological treatment.
Meta-analyses consistently show ERP outperforms other therapeutic approaches for OCD. About two-thirds of people who complete ERP experience significant improvement, and about one-third achieve full recovery.
Unlike treatments that focus on managing symptoms, ERP actually changes how your brain responds to intrusive thoughts. It’s the only therapy specifically designed to break the obsession-compulsion cycle that maintains OCD.
Yes, we offer secure telehealth sessions for Richardson residents, providing the same quality ERP therapy you’d receive in person. Virtual ERP has proven just as effective as in-person treatment for most people.
Virtual sessions actually offer some advantages for ERP. You can practice exposures in your own environment where OCD symptoms typically occur. This makes the treatment more realistic and helps you apply skills directly to your daily life.
Our telehealth platform is secure and user-friendly. After your initial consultation, you’ll receive access to the client portal where you can join sessions easily. Many people find virtual ERP more convenient and just as supportive as in-person treatment.
ERP is effective for all types of OCD, including contamination fears, checking compulsions, harm obsessions, symmetry concerns, religious scrupulosity, relationship OCD, and “Pure O” (primarily mental compulsions).
Whether you’re dealing with fears about germs, worries about harming others, need for things to feel “just right,” or intrusive thoughts about relationships, ERP addresses the underlying mechanism that maintains all forms of OCD.
The treatment approach adapts to your specific symptoms and triggers. A contamination-focused ERP program looks different from one targeting harm obsessions, but the core principle remains the same: learning to tolerate uncertainty without performing compulsions.
Intensive ERP programs are ideal when OCD severely disrupts your daily functioning or when weekly therapy hasn’t provided sufficient relief. If you’re spending hours daily on compulsions or avoiding major life activities, intensive treatment can provide faster results.
The four-day intensive format allows for concentrated practice without interruption from daily responsibilities. Many people achieve breakthrough moments in days rather than months, especially when they can focus entirely on treatment.
Weekly ERP sessions work well for people with milder symptoms or as maintenance after intensive treatment. Your therapist will help determine which format best matches your current functioning level and treatment goals.
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