Dual focus treatment: OCD and PTSD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) commonly develops after a traumatic experience, and thus it is essential that clinicians understand the comorbidity between OCD and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as well as the difference in presentations. Both diagnoses include avoidance behaviors and rituals related to an urge to reduce anxiety and to increase a sense of safety. Although the symptoms overlap, they are different in functionality. Clinicians sometimes erroneously believe that treating the PTSD will reduce the OCD symptoms. Conversely, some studies have suggested that decreasing PTSD symptoms during treatment are associated with increasing OCD symptoms. The reverse also occurs: a decrease of OCD symptomatology can be associated with a decrease in PTSD. Treating one disorder without understanding the interactions between the two disorders can lead to a rupture in the clinical relationship and potential reinforcement of the OCD.

Conference

English

C. Paula Krentzel
Jennifer Tattersall

Krentzel, C. P., & Tattersall, J. (2025, September). Dual focus treatment: OCD and PTSD. Presentation at the 30th annual EMDRIA conference, Anaheim, CA