ERP Foundations I for Behavior Analysts

Service Description

This course will introduce Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) for individuals with OCD and related disorders. Topics will include: case conceptualization and Functional Assessment; establishing a therapeutic alliance; creating an exposure hierarchy; shaping agency and motivation; supporting ‘Inhibitory Learning’; troubleshooting, generalization and maintenance. Training will include didactic instruction, modeling, case discussion, and other practice opportunities for solidifying learning. Participants will be encouraged to explore relevant literature (including literature outside the field of ABA) and discuss their own case examples. Course Overview • Session 1. Overview of OCD and ERP • Session 2 & 3. Assessment and Functional Analysis • Session 4. Therapeutic Alliance: Building a Safe Harbor • Session 5 & 6: Creating an Exposure Menu & Shaping Choice • Session 7: Supporting Inhibitory Learning • Session 8: Troubleshooting, Generalization & Maintenance Intended audience: Intermediate-advanced level behavior analysts After this course, participants will be able to 1. Describe OCD from a behavior analytic perspective, its prevalence, age of onset, course, patterns of comorbidity, and varying presentations 2. Discuss the role of private events and language processes (including problematic rule-following and rule-deriving) in the development and maintenance of maladaptive patterns of child and adolescent behavior associated with OCD 3. Describe exposure and response prevention (ERP), its efficacy, and common barriers to its use 4. Describe evidence-based functional assessment procedures for OCD and related conditions in children and adults 5. Give a functional description of therapeutic alliance and describe techniques for establishing a strong therapeutic alliance from an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) perspective 6. Construct an exposure hierarchy or menu, and describe how to make decisions about when to move up the ERP hierarchy or modify a ERP menu 7. Describe strategies for increasing client willingness or motivation for treatment 8. Describe inhibitory learning principles in exposure treatment and how we can understand and integrate this approach into practice from a behavior analytic perspective. Evelyn Gould is a Clinical Behavior Analyst and Licensed Clinical Psychologist. Dr Gould is a trainer and supervisor at The New England Center for OCD and Anxiety and has published peer-reviewed articles, chapters and a recent textbook.

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