The Method Of Factors: A Therapeutic Case Study
This piece is an autobiographic case study documenting the Method of Factors technique utilized in the cognitive behavioral modality of exposure therapy for the diagnosis of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. In this therapeutic approach, one works to reduce fear and anxiety responses, especially phobia, based on principles of habituation and cognitive dissonance. The Method of Factors technique incorporates a program of steadily escalating steps or challenges for an individual to confront that ultimately lead to a “non-phobic” and rational response to the addressed fear.
For the installed piece, the artist, also a licensed psychotherapist, documented a 3-month intervention period where the implemented exposure therapy focused on issues pertaining to Mysophobia and an inability to use restroom facilities outside of his residence. All restroom visits for the Method of Factors intervention were documented in various data spreadsheets with accompanying photographs of every facility utilized during the study. Research was analyzed and interpreted and has been exhibited as a collection of time-series graphs adjacent to a projected video loop of restroom photographs.
