The application of paradox therapy for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder: A case study

Abstract

The course of treatment as well as the treatment costs/benefits are among challenges of the current psychotherapies. The purpose of the present article is to introduce a new psychotherapeutic model for the treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). An evidence-based case study was performed based on a new paradox therapy for the treatment of OCD, called PTC (Paradox + Timetable = Cure). Three patients with OCD are presented based on the accounts of their video recorded therapy sessions. The patients participated in diagnostic interviews and self-report scales pre-, post-, and a follow-up assessment. Results indicated that the treatment of the patients was successfully done after three sessions for the first two patients and four sessions for the last one. The result of a 22 to 32 months follow-up showed that the therapeutic changes were satisfactory and stable, during which no relapse was happened. These results supported the deep and permanent effects of the PTC psychotherapeutic model in the shortest possible time. The influential mechanisms of “paradoxical timetable”, as the main PTC technique, and its adjustment to the treatment outcomes of the three patients are also explained. It is concluded that the PTC psychotherapeutic model can be considered as a very short-term, effective, efficient and yet economical approach for the treatment of OCD. Simple nature of the PTC protocol, described within the present paper, allows psychotherapists and clinical practitioners to use this newly developed psychotherapy model for the treatment of anxiety disorders. The results of the present study can be applied to new developments in the field of psychotherapy theory, research, and practice.