title: Understanding and treating incompleteness in obsessive-compulsive disorder.
abstract: Incompleteness-the troubling and irremediable sense that one's actions or experiences are not "just right"--appears to underlie many of the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Because incompleteness may reflect basic sensory-affective dysfunction, it presents a challenge to clinicians wishing to apply cognitive-behavioral treatments. In this article, I review ways of adapting well-demonstrated treatment principles to this condition. A case is presented and then used to discuss challenges in conducting cognitive-behavioral therapy with this population. Behavioral methods aimed at habituation (e.g., exposure and ritual prevention [ERP]) are probably more applicable than conventional cognitive techniques. However, even these may result in modest long-term gains; relapse is a probability if they are not actively practiced after treatment cessation.
authors.affiliation: Trent University, Department of Psychology, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. lsummerfeldt@trentu.ca
authors.forename: Laura J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Summerfeldt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D001364:Awareness; D002562:Ceremonial Behavior; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D015897:Comorbidity; D003657:Decision Making; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D003887:Desensitization, Psychologic / Q000379:methods; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors