Recent advances in the behavioral treatment of obsessive-compulsives

The last decade has witnessed remarkable progress in the treatment of obsessive-compulsives, with the introduction of response prevention and deliberate exposure to feared situations in vivo and in imagination. In a series of studies, the effects of the single components of this program were investigated. The results suggest that the optimal treatment includes a combination of all three procedures. It appears that in vivo exposure mainly affects anxiety/discomfort associated with cues for ritualizing; response prevention affects primarily compulsive behavior; and imaginal exposure assists in maintenance of treatment gains, perhaps through its impact on fears of future catastrophes associated with obsessions.