How We Treat
The gold-standard treatment for OCD, delivered by licensed clinicians, in person in San Pedro and virtually across California.
Exposure and Response Prevention, or ERP, is the gold-standard treatment for OCD and a structured form of cognitive behavioral therapy. The idea is direct: instead of avoiding the thoughts and situations that set off your anxiety, you gradually and deliberately face them, while resisting the compulsion or ritual you would normally use to feel better. With repetition, your brain learns that the feared outcome does not happen and that the anxiety eases on its own, without the ritual.
ERP is most effective when anxiety drives repeated avoidance or rituals. These are the concerns our clinicians use it for.
The first-line treatment for obsessive-compulsive symptoms, breaking the cycle of intrusive thoughts and compulsions.
Intense fears that you work through gradually rather than avoiding.
Anxiety that fuels avoidance and reassurance-seeking, which the avoidance keeps feeding.
ERP is structured and collaborative, never being thrown into your worst fear. You set the pace and stay in control of the next step.
You and your therapist rank the thoughts and situations that trigger your anxiety, from mildly uncomfortable to very difficult.
Starting low on the list, you deliberately approach a trigger instead of avoiding it.
You resist the compulsion or ritual you would usually reach for and stay with the discomfort.
As you stay with it, the anxiety peaks and then drops without the ritual, a little lower each time.
You take on harder steps at a pace you can handle, and practice between sessions to build on the gains.
Coastwise clinicians trained in ERP often pair it with other forms of CBT and skills work, depending on what you need. When you reach out, we match you to a therapist whose training fits your goals.
ERP works well both in the room and over secure video, and home-based exposures are often easier to set up online. See us in San Pedro or work with a clinician anywhere in California.
Exposure and Response Prevention, or ERP, is a structured form of cognitive behavioral therapy and the gold-standard treatment for OCD. You gradually and deliberately face the thoughts and situations that trigger anxiety, while resisting the compulsion or ritual you would usually use to relieve it. Over time the brain learns that the feared outcome does not happen and the anxiety fades on its own.
OCD is kept alive by compulsions. Each time a ritual relieves anxiety, it teaches the brain that the obsession was a real threat. ERP breaks that cycle by letting you face the trigger and sit with the discomfort without doing the compulsion. The brain habituates, and the urge to perform the ritual weakens.
No. ERP is collaborative and paced. You and your therapist build a fear hierarchy together and start with exposures you feel ready to try. You stay in control of the pace, and you move up the hierarchy only when you are ready.
Yes. ERP works well over secure video, and home-based exposures are often easier to set up when your therapist can guide you in your own environment. We offer it in person in San Pedro and virtually across California.
We work with insurance, and many clients use their benefits toward therapy with us. Call (424) 536-3002 to learn how your insurance can help cover the cost of therapy.
Call us for a free consultation and we will match you to a clinician trained in ERP.
Call (424) 536-3002 Get Started