🚨🚨Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) Course
- 56 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Free Course by Everything IFS Academy | Therapeutic Modalities Series
🚨Welcome to the Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) Course
Exposure and Response Prevention, or ERP, is the most effective treatment ever developed for OCD, and one of the most powerful approaches there is for fear and anxiety more broadly. It has a reputation for being intense, and a reputation for working. This course exists to open it up, to show you, clearly and in plain language, exactly what ERP teaches and how each of its tools actually works.
What this course is
This is not a vague, feel-good overview that leaves you nodding along and no wiser. It is a skills-first walkthrough. By the end, you will not simply know that ERP involves things like exposure hierarchies and response prevention. You will understand what each one is, why it works, and how it fits together with the rest. The aim is for you to come away genuinely understanding the method, tool by tool, and feeling far more confident about what it asks and why.
Who it is for
You are welcome here whatever brought you. Perhaps you are facing OCD or anxiety yourself and want to understand the approach before you begin. Perhaps you are a coach, therapist, or practitioner adding to your toolkit. Perhaps someone you love is struggling and you want to understand what could actually help them. Or perhaps you are simply curious about how this remarkable method works. No clinical background is needed. Everything is explained from the ground up, in everyday language.
How it works
The course moves through three parts. Orientation lays the groundwork: what ERP is, who created it, and how OCD actually runs. Core Teachings is the heart of it, where each skill and method is taught in depth, one at a time. The Closing brings everything together into a way of living. Each lesson stands on its own, names its tools plainly so they are easy to find and return to, and ends with a practice to help you begin putting the skill to use.
One gentle note before you start: this is educational material, offered to help you understand and learn, not a replacement for professional care. ERP stirs real discomfort by design, and for OCD that is severe or deeply entrenched, working alongside a trained professional is the wiser path. Wherever you are with it, you are welcome to take this at your own pace.
When you are ready, choose a lesson below to begin.
Course outline
Orientation
Module 1 — What is ERP?
Module 2 — Who created ERP?
Module 3 — The OCD cycle and the two-factor model
Core Teachings
Module 4 — Why ERP works: habituation and inhibitory learning
Module 5 — Obsessions, compulsions, and safety behaviors
Module 6 — The SUDS scale
Module 7 — Building the exposure hierarchy
Module 8 — In vivo exposure
Module 9 — Imaginal exposure and ERP scripting
Module 10 — Interoceptive exposure
Module 11 — Response prevention
Module 12 — Tolerating uncertainty and the willingness stance
Closing
Module 13 — Using ERP in everyday life
Educational Disclaimer: Everything IFS Academy is an independent educational platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the IFS Institute. These courses, lessons, skills, and practices are offered for educational and self-reflection purposes only. They do not constitute therapy, mental health treatment, clinical training, or crisis support, and they should not be used as a substitute for professional mental health care.
Crisis Support: 🚨 If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, feel unsafe, feel at risk of harming yourself or someone else, or feel too overwhelmed to safely use self-directed practices, please pause this material and reach out for immediate support. Contact a licensed mental health professional, call or text 988 in the U.S. or Canada, or use your local emergency or crisis resources.
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