Exposure and response prevention in patients with obsessions

The outpatient treatment of patients with obsessions alone is often said to be less successful compared to the outpatient treatment of patients with both obsessions and compulsive symptoms. This article presents the outcome of the treatment of 26 obsessive patients. The success rate, measured after 10 treatment sessions, was 73%. At follow-up after 12-36 months, improvement appeared to have been maintained or to have increased in 61.5% of the patients, figures comparable to the outcome of patients with both obsessions and compulsions.