title: Focus on "cognition" in cognitive behavior therapy for ocd: is it really necessary?
abstract: The past decade has witnessed a significant shift toward a more cognitive emphasis in our understanding and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD). This article discusses the shortcomings in more standard behavioral treatment of OCD, which despite its demonstrated efficacy, led to the recent cognitive-behavioral approaches to the disorder. Current cognitive behavior therapy for OCD is described and a short critical review of the comparative treatment outcome literature on cognitive behavior therapy vs exposure and response prevention is provided. The article concludes that although the clinical utility of a more cognitive approach to OCD has not been consistently demonstrated, it would be premature to abandon cognitive formulations until some key research questions have been addressed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of New Brunswick, New Brunswick, Canada. clark@unb.ca
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D003071:Cognition; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D003887:Desensitization, Psychologic; D036262:Empirical Research; D006801:Humans; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome