The impact of written exposure on worry: a preliminary investigation.

Goldman et al. (2007) asked high worriers to write about their deepest fears for 20 minutes. A control group wrote about yesterday’s schedule.

The team checked worry, body tension, and mood four times over the next month.

All adults had anxiety problems but no other therapy was given.

One writing session cut worry, stomach aches, and depression compared with the control group.

Gains stayed for four weeks without any extra coaching.

Schertz et al. (2018) stretched the same idea into a 5-day group camp for kids with OCD and anxiety. Their brief, intense format still gave medium-to-large symptom drops.

Ganz et al. (2009) started with neutral cue training, then moved to OCD triggers. Both steps lowered symptoms, showing exposure can begin gently and still work.

Richards et al. (2017) and Król et al. (2019) link intolerance of uncertainty to repetitive behaviors in autism and Williams syndrome. Natalie’s paper adds that people who hate uncertainty gain the most from writing about it, tying the construct to treatment response.

You can add a single 20-minute worry-write to your intake packet. No extra staff, no special room. Use it while families wait for a full ERP slot, or as a bridge between sessions. Track intolerance of uncertainty with a quick scale; clients who score high may get the biggest bang from this low-cost tool.