The Use and Misuse of Exposure Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders

In this article we define and describe the use of exposure-based therapy for OCD. This approach involves confrontation with feared stimulus with the aim of facilitating fear extinction. Exposure, however, is not applicable for a number of psychological conditions now listed as related to OCD in the DSM-5. We explain when it is appropriate to use exposure and when it is not, and raise cautions for clinicians to consider when working with patients with problems putatively related to OCD.