Overcoming Compulsive Washing

Although obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is receiving more attention in the media than ever before, most books on the subject treat this complex range of symptoms generically, without attention to the particular needs of particular categories of behavior. From this third book in New Harbinger's series on specific OCD behaviors, readers who feel a compulsion to wash and clean will learn powerful, effective strategies to control these behaviors.

Fear of contamination leads washing sufferers to compulsively avoid places and situations that cause their anxiety-public restrooms, doorknobs, handshaking, and so forth. To subdue the contaminating effects of the world around them, some sufferers have been known to shower for up to four hours or to wash their hands until they are raw. Ultimately, these behaviors prohibit some sufferers from leaving their homes. This book helps readers identify their specific ritualistic compulsion. Then it helps them to stop obsessing by experimenting with exposure to their fears. The book includes ways to troubleshoot particularly difficult situations and educate the family and loved ones of OCD sufferers to support their loved ones' recovery.

Although obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is receiving more attention in the media than ever before, most books on the subject treat this complex range of symptoms generically, without attention to the particular needs of particular categories of behavior. From this third book in New Harbinger's series on specific OCD behaviors, readers who feel a compulsion to wash and clean will learn powerful, effective strategies to control these behaviors.

Fear of contamination leads washing sufferers to compulsively avoid places and situations that cause their anxiety-public restrooms, doorknobs, handshaking, and so forth. To subdue the contaminating effects of the world around them, some sufferers have been known to shower for up to four hours or to wash their hands until they are raw. Ultimately, these behaviors prohibit some sufferers from leaving their homes. This book helps readers identify their specific ritualistic compulsion. Then it helps them to stop obsessing by experimenting with exposure to their fears. The book includes ways to troubleshoot particularly difficult situations and educate the family and loved ones of OCD sufferers to support their loved ones' recovery.

The third book in New Harbinger's series addressing specific obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) behaviors, this book helps people who wash compulsively eliminate or reduce their urges to wash and clean. It helps them overcome their fear of contaminating others or being contaminated by dirt, germs, or poisons.

Paul R. Munford, Ph.D., is clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Californa, Davis, School of Medicine. He is a clinical psychologist in private practice and executive director of the Anxiety Treatment Center of Northern California, an organization that provides specialized outpatient treatment for severe OCD and other anxiety disorders. An internationally recognized expert, he has treated hundreds of OCD patients during his career. He developed and directed the behavior therapy complement of the OCD Partial Hospitalization Program at the Neuropsychiatric Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. After retiring from UCLA, he relocated to the Sacramento area where he continues to specialize in the behavior therapy of anxiety disorders. He sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation and is a member of the American Psychological Association, Anxiety Disorders Association of America, Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, and California Psychological Association.