Treating OCD with the Distancing Approach & EMDR

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is more than just quirky habits or perfectionism—it’s a debilitating condition affecting about 1.6% of the global population, rooted in overvalued thoughts, compulsive behaviors, and sometimes trauma. Traditional models like CBT with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) help many, but some struggle with the emotional intensity that ERP brings. That’s where the Distancing Approach, built on EMDR, steps in.

What Is the Distancing Approach?

In their 2024 paper, Krentzel and Tattersall describe a comprehensive protocol integrating:

1. EMDR’s Phobia Protocol

2. Distancing Technique

3. Future Rehearsalaglowcounseling.com+3emdria.org+3connect.springerpub.com+3

These components work together to help clients detach, reprocess, and rehearse new, healthier responses to OCD triggers.

Core Components Explained

1. EMDR Phobia Protocol

Similar to phobia treatments, this targets OCD triggers—be they images, thoughts, feelings, or bodily sensations—using bilateral stimulation to desensitize their emotional power connect.springerpub.com+2emdria.org+2aglowcounseling.com+2aglowcounseling.com.

2. Distancing Technique

Developed in 2017 by Krentzel, refined with Tattersall, this helps clients observe obsessive thoughts or urges as detached mental events—not commands. Techniques include:

• Visualizing thoughts as on a screen or happening to someone else

• Building Adaptive Coping Statements (e.g., “A thought is just a thought.”, “I don't have to respond.”)These become internal resources during EMDR processing spj.science.org+10emdria.org+10aglowcounseling.com+10aglowcounseling.com+1drcpaula.com+1.

3. Future Rehearsal

Clients imagine facing real-life OCD triggers and practice responding without compulsion. It combines EMDR processing with ERP-style visualization to build confidence and emotional resilience aglowcounseling.com.

How It Works in Session

A typical course of treatment may look like:

1. Preparation Phase

   • Educate client on EMDR and OCD

   • Create personalized Adaptive Coping Statements (ACS)

2. Distancing Phase

   • Introduce distancing via visualization and interweaves

   • Process memories (first, worst, recent triggers) with ACS support

3. Desensitization

   • Apply EMDR phobia protocol to obsessive triggers until distress subsides

4. Future Rehearsal

   • Guide client through visualization of facing triggers using ACS resources

5. Integration & Reinforcement

   • Strengthen their ability to detach and apply distancing strategies in daily life

A real-life case in their article shows how these phases synergistically reduce symptoms and boost insight emdria.org+4aglowcounseling.com+4drcpaula.com+4emdria.org+8connect.springerpub.com+8aglowcounseling.com+8connect.springerpub.com+3emdria.org+3aglowcounseling.com+3.

Why It’s Effective

• Insight & Detachment: Clients learn that thoughts don’t equal reality—Distancing fosters this awareness .

• Targeted Processing: EMDR phobia protocol swiftly reduces emotional charge around obsessions/compulsions .

• Rehearsal Builds Confidence: Future rehearsal fortifies coping before real-life exposures even occur.

• Trauma-Informed: Reflects the fact that many with OCD have trauma histories—EMDR’s flexibility accommodates this complexity emdria.org+5etq.emdrassociation.org.uk+5spj.science.org+5aglowcounseling.com+4emdria.org+4connect.springerpub.com+4.

Real-World Application & Training

• Krentzel developed the Distancing Technique in 2017; alongside Tattersall, they began formal training in 2018, presented at EMDRIA & EMDR Canada in 2021, and by 2023 had integrated it into a full Distancing Approach for OCD connect.springerpub.com+10emdria.org+10krentzel-tattersall.com+10.

• They offer trainings (e.g. EMDRIA CEUs) covering the Distancing Approach, sometimes combined with Ego State therapy krentzel-tattersall.com+1krentzel-tattersall.com+1.

🌟 Conclusion

The Distancing Approach offers a rich, trauma-informed alternative to classic CBT/ERP. By integrating:

• Distancing Technique (to build psychological distance and insight)

• EMDR Phobia Protocol (for powerful desensitization)

• Future Rehearsal (to mentally prepare for real triggers)

…it helps clients respond to OCD with awareness, resilience, and less suffering.

For therapists seeking to deepen their OCD treatment toolbox, Krentzel and Tattersall’s model offers a promising path worth exploring.

If you or someone you care about may be experiencing symptoms of OCD, phobias or anxiety and you do not know where to start there are trained therapists available to help. Ask the therapist you work with if they are trained in any specific approaches to these disorders.