A fear of contamination drives the most common manifestation of obsessive compulsive disorders(OCD), compulsive washing. OCD is a distressing anxiety disorder that affects 1-2 percent of the population and can be disabling. Intense and complex forms of the disorder benefit from advanced analyses of contamination and its treatment.

This book, part of a series on modern psychological treatments published by OUP, provides a detailed account of the nature and causes of the various forms of a fear of contamination and their consequences. Methods of treatment are described and fully illustrated by case histories. The inclusion of original analyses and explanations of a newly recognised form of the fear, mental contamination, is an important feature of the book and will enable therapists to expand their ability to assess and treat the abnormal fears of contamination.

Written by clinicians with extensive experience, this volume is valuable for all clinical psychologists and psychotherapists with an interest in OCD

About the Author:
Stanley Rachman, Emeritus Professor, University of British Columbia, Canada and the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, UK, Anna Coughtrey, Clinical Psychologist, University of Reading, UK, Adam Radomsky, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, , Rosamund Shafran, UCL Institute of Child Health, UCL Institute of Child Health

Professor Rachman, is a leading clinical researcher and has numerous publications---journal articles, books and chapters in edited books. He is Emeritus Professor at the University of British Columbia and the Institute of Psychiatry, is Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a member of the British Psychological Society where he was awarded the BPS Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr Anna Coughtrey is a clinical psychologist and a clinical tutor at the University of Reading. The focus of Dr Coughtrey's research is on the advancement of cognitive behavioural therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder and mental contamination and she has a number of publications in this area. Dr Coughtrey works clinically and provided supervision in the NHS and in university settings.

Dr. Radomsky is Professor of Psychology at Concordia University and Co-Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry. He is the director of the Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Laboratory at Concordia, where he studies cognitive and behavioural approaches to understanding and treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety disorders, and related problems. He has received institutional, national and international awards for his research and has published a number of peer-reviewed articles and book chapters related to his work in the domains of experimental psychopathology and treatment development. Professor Radomsky is a frequently invited speaker at national and international conferences, and has a small private practice in which he works with individuals seeking help for OCD and related problems.

Roz Shafran is Professor of Translational Psychology at University College London and founder of the Charlie Waller Institute of Evidence-Based Psychological Treatment. Her clinical and research interests include cognitive behavioural theories and treatments for anxiety disorders, eating disorders and perfectionism across the age range. She also has an interest in dissemination and implementation of psychological treatments. She has over 120 publications. She is an associate editor of Behaviour Research and Therapy, recipient of an award for Distinguished Contributions to Professional Psychology from the British Psychological Society and Trustee of the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust.