ABSTRACT
This chaprter aims to draw the attention of clinicians to the interpersonal factors that help maintain and often exacerbate symptoms, so that these too are included in the treatment plan. It provides practical help to patients and their families engaged in the daily battle with the disorder. The chapter describes the way family members usually react to the symptoms of their loved one suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). When a patient expresses an obsessive worry or performs a ritual, his interlocutor is usually prompted to make a rapid and superficial attempt to reassure him, without going into the merit of his fears and without explaining the reasons why he should calm down. The interlocutors of people with OCD do more than just offer superficial reassurance or tell little white lies. When a person with OCD is gripped by obsessive anxiety, he will ask his significant others for reassurance, or involve them somehow in implementing his compulsions.
