Imagery rescripting for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder not responding to outpatient cognitive behavioral therapy.

This study tested the effects of Imagery Rescripting (ImRs) on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms in seven individuals who remained symptomatic after at least one earlier exposure and response prevention treatment. ImRs was provided twice per week for three weeks. A single-case experimental design with repeated measures was utilized to test the intervention effectiveness with measurements at baseline, pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 2.5-5.5 weeks and 3-month follow-up. Results revealed a statistically significant overall decrease in OCD symptoms from baseline to 3-month follow-up (p = .001, d = 1.06). At 3-month follow-up three participants exhibited reliable improvements in depression symptoms and three participants showed reliable improvements in quality of life. The findings highlight that ImRs has potential as an effective treatment for patients with persistent OCD symptoms after exposure and response prevention treatment. Further research is needed to determine the optimal application of IMRS in OCD treatment, including the appropriate number of sessions and the selection of the target memory.