The Efficacy of Self-Administered Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy for a 50-year Old Woman with a 20 Year History of Obsessive- Compulsive Disorder: A Case Study

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common and disabling condition. Therapist-delivered treatments that use exposure and response prevention have been found to be very effective in treating OCD, although they are costly and associated with high rates of attrition. Effective treatments that can be made widely available without the need for therapist contact are urgently needed. This case study represents the first published investigation of a self-administered cognitive treatment for OCD in a 50-year old female with a 20 year history of OCD. The treatment evaluation occurred over 27 weeks, including 12 weeks of self-administration of the Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy (DIRT) program. Decreases of between 23% to 33% on measures from pre-treatment to follow-up were observed. Bearing in mind the methodological limitations associated with a case study, we conclude that the results reported here are encouraging and indicate that further research effort evaluating the effectiveness of self-administered DIRT is warranted.

Authors:

• Mairwen K. Jones
• Lynne Harris
• Lisa D. Vaccaro

Keywords:

• Anxiety Treatment
• Cognitive Therapy
• Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy
• Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder
• Self- Administered Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy.

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