ABSTRACT
Exposure and response prevention (E/RP) is the most empirically effective Cognitive Behavioural Therapy intervention. The procedure, hereinafter E/RP, consists in the combined application of two different components: E/RP. The first requires the patient to enter into contact with external or internal anxiogenic stimuli for a longer time than he normally tolerates. Response prevention, instead, consists fundamentally in blocking the behaviour normally enacted by the patient during and following contact with anxiogenic stimuli. Although E/RP is an intervention technique with clearly defined steps necessary and sufficient to produce therapeutic effects, there are various explanations in the literature, contrasting in some respects, about the underlying mechanism of its effectiveness. Clinical practice throws light on the numerous difficulties that may be encountered during the performance of exposure exercises. During exposure sessions, the patient may experience very intensive emotive reactions or manifest hostility toward the therapist.
