Psychosocial treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder

State-of-the-art psychosocial treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder is based on behavior therapy strategies and techniques with adjunctive pharmacological treatment. The critical therapeutic element is the prolonged confrontation of the individual with the stimuli that provokes obsessive thoughts or compulsive actions, without the individual then engaging in cognitive or ritualistic avoidance behaviors. For the clinician, a decision model for treating this disorder is drawn from recent behavioral and pharmacological research, as well as from the individual's self-help capacities. Judicious use of currently available treatments can reduce suffering and restore lost psychosocial functioning in obsessive-compulsive patients and their families.