What is Exposure and Response Prevention?

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the gold standard of OCD, anxiety and panic treatment. In short, ERP teaches you how to not respond to intrusive thoughts with compulsive behavior. Over time the intrusive thoughts become less distressing and the OCD, anxiety or panic retreats into the background.

Why Music Therapy?

Music therapy is an evidence based field of therapy with robust research supporting many of its amazing outcomes. The link between music therapy and the brain is well documented. In OCD, anxiety and panic certain parts of the brain are misfiring. Music Therapy based ERP leans into the research of neurological rehabilitation to support overcoming your OCD, anxiety and panic by calming the misfiring systems.

How Does Music Therapy Based ERP Work?

Music therapy based ERP utilizes the roadmap of traditional ERP but implements music based interventions along the way. Music therapy interventions are utilized to enhance development of insight, break compulsion and rumination cycles, support a strong response prevention and enhance emotional care for clients.

How are Exposures Practiced?

Exposures are done in a traditional ERP manner and engaged via music. Due to the varying nature of OCD themes various forms of music therapy interventions can be utilized to generate an exposure. Clients can write songs that provoke their OCD, anxiety and panic themes, generate playlists that trigger a theme and even generate an instrumental improvisation to begin the exposure process for themes that may be taboo and too difficult to discuss at the current moment. Just like OCD themes, music has almost endless forms it can take as well.

How is Response Prevention Practiced?

Music therapy enhances response prevention by helping the client develop insight into when they are compulsing. Music therapy can help support robust response prevention by generating songs and improvised recordings that are utilized to stop compulsion cycles, including rumination, and accept uncertainty.

Do I need to be a Musician to Participate in Music Therapy based ERP?

No! Music therapy is a therapeutic approach that is accessible to everyone. In music therapy based ERP we utilize many accessible music therapy approaches for our clients to enhance the benefits of ERP. You can engage in music therapy just as you are with no previous musical experience or years of musical experience. All are welcome.