ERP Therapy in | Los Angeles | Orange County | San Francisco | San Diego |
ERP Telehealth Therapy for OCD, Social Anxiety, Panic Disorder, Illness Anxiety, GAD and Specific Phobias.
What is ERP Therapy?
Exposure and Response Prevention
Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) therapy is the gold-standard, evidence-based treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and related anxiety conditions. This form of therapy utilizes a structured, collaborative process designed to help you gradually face fears, reduce anxiety, and break free from compulsions and safety behaviors. We start by identifying the thoughts, situations, images, sensations, and internal triggers that fuel your OCD or anxiety. From there, we create a personalized exposure hierarchy—a list of triggers that ranges from least distressing to most distressing. This hierarchy includes in vivo (real-life) exposures, imaginal exposures, and interoceptive experiences tailored to your specific fears.
You begin with manageable exposures toward the lower end of your hierarchy. During exposures, we will collaboratively find strategies to approach the trigger while intentionally avoiding compulsions, rituals, and safety behaviors. This allows your brain to learn—through experience—that you can handle discomfort without needing to neutralize it. Over time, this leads to habituation, a natural reduction in anxiety that comes from staying with the fear rather than escaping it.
As you become more confident and your anxiety decreases at each level, we gradually move up the hierarchy. You build the skill of sitting with uncertainty, letting intrusive thoughts come and go without engaging them. Step by step, you gain control over patterns that once felt overwhelming. ERP doesn’t eliminate thoughts—it changes your relationship with them so they no longer dictate your life.
ERP is highly effective for: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (all themes and subtypes including, Contamination, Harm and Responsibility, Symmetry, Intrusive thoughts, Relationship OCD, Taboo Thoughts, Perfectionism, Scrupulosity and more)
- Social Anxiety
- Specific phobias
- Illness Anxiety
- Panic Disorder
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
- Avoidance-based patterns and safety behaviors
This makes Exposure and Response Prevention the leading treatment for effective OCD and related Anxiety Disorders.
Treatment Outcomes & Expectations
Treatment Outcomes and Expectations
The recommended gold-standard model for ERP, a key component of effective anxiety therapy, is to begin treatment with 2 sessions per week. Starting at this frequency creates faster momentum, strengthens new learning, and helps you navigate your exposure hierarchy more effectively. This initial intensity allows the brain to build new patterns quickly—making early progress more noticeable and long-lasting.
As you gain confidence, reduce compulsions, and build tolerance for uncertainty, the goal is to decrease session frequency over time. Most clients naturally transition from 2x/week to 1x/week sessions, then biweekly, and eventually to monthly maintenance or as-needed check-ins.
Progress depends on multiple factors, including the specific symptoms you’re experiencing, the severity and duration of your condition, your willingness to complete homework between sessions, consistency with exposures, co-occurring mental health concerns, and current life stressors. Some people experience rapid improvements, while others progress more gradually. ERP is highly effective when practiced regularly and tailored to your unique presentation, but no therapist or treatment can guarantee specific outcomes.
A typical course of ERP therapy for OCD treatment often includes
- 1–2 sessions for assessment, goal-setting, and ERP education
- 2x/week sessions during the early phase of treatment
- 12–20 structured ERP sessions targeting exposures, mental rituals, safety behaviors, and uncertainty
- Meaningful improvement for most clients around sessions 8–15
- Optional continued work to strengthen long-term gains and prevent relapse
ERP is designed to help you improve efficiently—not keep you in therapy longer than needed.
What the Research Shows
Decades of research demonstrate that 60–85% of people who complete ERP experience significant improvement in OCD and anxiety symptoms. Clients often report:
- Reduced compulsions and rituals
- Improved emotional resilience
- Clearer thinking and better decision-making
- Greater flexibility and less avoidance
- A noticeable increase in daily functioning and freedom
Telehealth ERP has been shown to be as effective as in-person treatment, with the added benefit of practicing exposures in real-life environments.
Why ERP Saves Time—and Money—Compared to Traditional Talk Therapy
Standard talk therapy can continue for years because it doesn’t directly target the cycle that maintains OCD and anxiety. ERP is different. It is:
- Structured
- Targeted
- Time-limited
- Based on measurable progress
By starting at 2x/week and then reducing frequency as improvement occurs, ERP often leads to meaningful progress within months rather than years. This reduces the overall amount of therapy required—saving both time and long-term costs.
Get ERP Telehealth Treatment in California
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