Steven Phillipson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Steven Phillipson, Ph.D., is an American cognitive-behavioral psychologist in the field of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and a specialist in the emerging field of Pure Obsessional OCD ("Pure O"). Dr. Phillipson is the clinical director of the Center for Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy. The Center is an outpatient facility where staff are trained from local doctoral programs such as Columbia University, Rutgers Univ., Fordham Univ. and C.W. Post Univ..
Contents |
[edit] Specialization
Pure O differs from traditional OCD in that it manifests solely in the mind, rather than through the compulsive rituals (hand-washing, checking, etc.) associated with the more well-known form of the disorder. Because of this, Pure O is particularly difficult to treat. It involves often debilitating anxious rumination: repetitive thoughts geared toward problem-solving, question-answering and relief-seeking.
The foundation of Dr. Phillipson's approach -- one increasingly embraced by other anxiety specialists -- is that OCD symptoms are reinforced through patterns of learned behavior that directly encourage fight-or-flight responses from the brain's amygdala (primitive emotional center). These patterns of behavior can be altered (unlearned) through exposure and response treatments. Clients are taught to systematically induce anxiety-provoking situations while deliberately choosing to tolerate the resultant anxiety, ambiguity and uncertainty.
[edit] Successes
Dr. Phillipson, based in Manhattan, New York, claims an unusually high success rate in a therapeutic field long regarded as notoriously difficult, citing a typical remission rate of 70 to 90 percent among patients. Dr. Phillipson's OCD treatment focuses on the psychological principles of extinction and habituation, emphasizing the role of the brain's amygdala in the experience of anxiety. Phillipson encourages clients to contrast experience and perception in grappling with OCD, which he classifies as a habituated psychological condition rather than a disease or illness.
