[Psychotherapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder: what is evidence based?]

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a severe, disabling mental health condition with a chronic trajectory without adequate treatment.
• Effective interventions are crucial for managing OCD symptoms and improving patient quality of life.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the implementation of cognitive behavioural therapy with exposure and response prevention (CBT) for OCD.
• To discuss alternatives and extensions of CBT for non-responders.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on CBT for OCD.
• Discussion of implementation considerations for CBT.
• Exploration of alternative and extended therapeutic approaches.

Main Results:

• Cognitive behavioural therapy with exposure and response prevention (CBT) is the most effective intervention for OCD, achieving significant symptom reduction in 60-70% of patients.
• CBT, when correctly applied, can be as effective as combination therapy with medication.
• No other treatment approaches have demonstrated efficacy through randomized controlled trials to date.

Conclusions:

• CBT with exposure and response prevention is the gold standard treatment for OCD.
• Proper implementation and consideration of alternatives are key for optimizing treatment outcomes.
• Further research into alternative and extended therapies is warranted for non-responder populations.