Letter to the Editor March 18, 2008

Reasons for Inadequate Utilization of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Lee Baer, PhD; William E. Minichiello, EdD

J Clin Psychiatry 2008;69(4):676

Article Abstract

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Sir: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has repeatedly beenfound to be effective in the treatment of obsessive-compulsivedisorder (OCD),1 and the Expert Consensus Guidelines for theTreatment of OCD2 recommend CBT as a first-line treatmentof adult OCD along with serotonin reuptake-inhibiting drugs.However, many OCD sufferers never receive adequate CBTtreatment; for example, Mancebo et al.3 recently found that only38% of OCD sufferers taking part in a longitudinal study ofOCD at a major medical center had undergone an adequate trialof CBT in their lifetime. We undertook an Internet-based surveystudy to better understand this phenomenon in the larger OCDpopulation.’ ‹