I resonated with a recent article in Psychology Today about the difficulties people have in finding therapists who offer effective treatment. The authors Dean McKay and Scott Lilienfeld—especially Dr. Lilienfeld—have been extremely active in promoting science-based psychotherapies.
As an example, they offer the experience of “Jerry” (a pseudonym). Jerry struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Having educated himself on OCD, Jerry knew that exposure and response (or ritual) prevention (ERP, for short) was the most researched and effective treatment for OCD. ERP involve systematically helping people with OCD learn to confront obsessions while resisting the urge to engage in compulsions or rituals.
Despite living in a major city, it took Jerry 3 years to find a therapist who offered and was proficient in ERP for OCD. Jerry’s experiences are similar to those of a Yale graduate student with OCD.
Many clients I’ve seen have similarly struggled. Some were misdiagnosed by prior therapists and did not even realize they had OCD until they did their own research. Some therapists correctly identified them as having OCD but when it came to treatment, they “just talked.”
Most people with OCD with whom I’ve worked have seen at least 1 or 2 therapists who have not been particularly helpful. Hair pulling (trichotillomania) and skin picking (excoriation) are two other problems that people with whom I’ve worked have struggled to find effective treatment.
The article by Drs. McKay and Lilienfeld provides a sober reminder that there are a number of people who would benefit from effective treatments such as ERP but cannot find therapists who practice it or are aware enough of their competency to refer out to a specialist. Unlike Jerry, many people with problems such as OCD, trichotillomania, and excoriation don’t even realize there’s a name for their struggles, let alone effective treatment, and they may drift in and out of therapists’ offices being misdiagnosed and receiving substandard treatment.
Drs. McKay and Lilienfeld recommend that:
The adoption of the new clinical practice guidelines is probably our field’s best hope for placing long overdue pressure on therapists to incorporate scientifically based approaches into their clinical practices. Practice guidelines would also assist mental health consumers with the daunting task of selecting more effective treatments.
Sadly, there are many licensed therapists who do not believe in science-based approaches. For people with mild to moderate depression/anxiety, generic talk therapy and nonscientific approaches can offer some relief. For people like Jerry with OCD, these unscientific approaches are unlikely to be of much help.
I’m inspired that psychologists such as Drs. McKay and Lilienfeld take time from their busy schedules as full-time professors and respected researchers to promote scientific approaches. You can read their blog post here. I encourage readers to carefully research the therapists you or your loved ones see, and not to stay in therapy with someone who doesn’t seem to be very helpful.
Author: Brian Thompson Ph.D.
Brian is a licensed psychologist and Director of the Portland Psychotherapy Anxiety Clinic. His specialties include generalized anxiety, OCD, hair pulling, and skin picking.
