To learn more, and to register, go to ocd2014.org.
This 2-day Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Group, led by Dr. Reid Wilson, is a treatment opportunity for individuals with OCD who might not otherwise have access to an intensive OCD treatment program. Components of this program include: how to alter rigidly held belief systems, how to let go of obsessions, how to gain mastery over compulsions, and how to increase courage and determination. There are two sessions offered this year in Los Angeles, one before and one after the conference:
This treatment opportunity will be held at the conference site at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles, CA. The group will be limited to 8 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. This program has sold out for each of the past 3 years we’ve offered it.
All participants must be referred by a mental health professional who has given the diagnosis of OCD. The cost is $375*.
To register, please download the application and referral form from: http://www.ocd2014.org/program/reidwilson/
This 2-day Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Group, led by Dr. Reid Wilson, is a treatment opportunity for individuals with OCD who might not otherwise have access to an intensive OCD treatment program. Components of this program include: how to alter rigidly held belief systems, how to let go of obsessions, how to gain mastery over compulsions, and how to increase courage and determination. There are two sessions offered this year in Los Angeles, one before and one after the conference:
This treatment opportunity will be held at the conference site at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles, CA. The group will be limited to 8 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. This program has sold out for each of the past 3 years we’ve offered it.
All participants must be referred by a mental health professional who has given the diagnosis of OCD. The cost is $375*.
To register, please download the application and referral form from: http://www.ocd2014.org/program/reidwilson/
OCD symptoms and treatments are sometimes so strange that illustrative stories can often be the best way to communicate and learn about them. In this workshop, Dr. Weg will read stories to the adult participants and then ask them to share their perceptions of how each story represents certain aspects of the experience of OCD and/or its treatment. We strongly encourage (but do not require) all participants to join the presenter in coming in their pajamas. We are looking to create a warm, cozy and intimate environment that is fun, educational, and compelling, and will serve to help build a shared sense of community. Fuzzy slippers are optional!
This orientation is for adults with OCD, family members, social supports, and treatment providers. The presenters will discuss the logistics of the conference: the who, what, where, why, and how. Presenters will also answer questions about the IOCDF, specific sessions, and anything else related to the conference.
This workshop will explore issues and challenges related to the experience and treatment of scrupulosity. The panelists will give brief presentations on scrupulosity, followed by a therapist-audience Q&A dialogue and an open conversation about unique challenges that arise when OCD becomes entangled with religion or morality. Throughout the workshop, the conversation will remain connected to practical treatment issues of clinical application and adaptation.
Back by popular demand, come and participate in a hands-on experiential workshop for individuals with OCD and social anxiety. One of the major difficulties associated with OCD is its effect on social functioning. For example: not enjoying a night out with a group of friends because of being in the bathroom due to repeatedly washing hands. Symptoms may be secondary to OCD or co-occurring as a social anxiety disorder.
The presenters will engage attendees in a series of interactive activities and points of discussion designed to stimulate and expand how ERP is conceptualized with co-occurring OCD and social anxiety. Participation in the interactive “social experiment” that will take place in and around the conference setting and will break participants up into small groups for ERP activities. Learn how to face OCD-related social difficulties more effectively by testing out some new concepts and behaviors with the support of peers.
This is a fast-paced, interactive, hands-on introduction to Exposure and Response Prevention. It will begin with a brief discussion in which participants will identify one of their personal obsessions and its related compulsion(s). Participants will then break into groups led by a member of the presenting team. Each participant will present their obsession and compulsion while peers design an ERP assignment with guidance from the group leader. Where possible, participants will actually do the assignment with group support. A wrap up session will highlight basic guidelines for effective ERP.
OCD can make someone feel desperately isolated, and the thought of letting someone in, even someone we know and love, feels terrifying. But who to tell? What to say? And do I have to? This workshop will directly address these and other questions with the goal of helping attendees evaluate if, when, and how to broach the subject of their OCD in personal, professional, and intimate relationships.
This roundtable will address factors that may predict likelihood of treatment resistance in OCD and related disorders. Current evidence-based pharmacological interventions for treatment-refractory OCD and related disorders will be reviewed, as will novel treatments currently being investigated. Other somatic interventions being studied for treatment-refractory cases, such as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Deep Brain Stimulation, and Psychosurgery, will also be discussed. Time will be provided for audience member questions.
The GOAL group presented here was started in the spring of 1981 and is the oldest and longest running OCD support group in the country. The group will begin with a brief presentation describing the structure of the group and how each part of the meeting fulfills the needs of its members. This will be followed by OCD sufferers participating in the goal planning phase of a GOAL meeting. In doing so, they will begin to gain some control over their OCD. Participants, families, and professionals will observe experienced group members guiding attendees in choosing achievable goals.
This a support group for those who may not get support or help from family and friends due to multicultural differences or cultural stigma. Examples may range anywhere from not being able to talk about the disorder, fighting about it, not being able to tell family you have OCD, or being classified as
just “crazy.” This may be due to lack of knowledge, awareness, shame, cultural morals and upbringing, restrictions, etc. This group will be an open forum for those who would like to share their stories and know that they are not alone in this situation. Together, we can help each other find resources to help reverse lack of awareness, understanding, shame, and stigma.
With aging, time gets shorter, pressures mount, and important decisions must often be made without further delay -- stressful factors for us. As we approach the years of retirement, physical and mental decline, life-changing decisions, the inevitable loss of loved ones, shrinking opportunities, and fading plans, there's no time left for avoidance and procrastination. How do we maintain our morale, our determination, and our persistence in learning how to live with OCD more productively? This support group will address changes in our lives as we grow older with OCD. What pressures and worries do we face? What resources are available to us? We have much to contribute to one another after so many years of experience with life and OCD.
This group is intended for those who suffer from scrupulosity (OCD entwined with religious and moral matters). Family members and close friends of someone with scrupulosity are also welcome to attend. Join others in a professionally-led psycho-education and support group. This will be an interactive group so that participants can learn from the leader and one another about ways to overcome scrupulosity.
Trichotillomania (aka Hair Pulling Disorder) and Skin Picking Disorder (aka Excoriation Disoder) are often secretive conditions in which individuals suffer in isolation and shame. This support group will provide
a venue for adults to openly discuss their pulling and picking in a safe and supportive environment. Participants will learn about the concept of behavioral addiction, as well as core treatment techniques for these conditions, including Habit Reversal Training, Cognitive Restructuring, and mindfulness.
Sexual and violent obsessions in OCD are common but frequently unrecognized or misunderstood. This support group is focused on helping people understand their symptoms, distinguish between obsessions and mental compulsions, and identify effective exposures to combat symptoms. Participants may also discuss their experiences of stigma, shame, and rejection surrounding their symptoms in a supportive environment.
Most people are sure they don't like camping; for those of you suffering from OCD, this seems doubly
so. However, we have found OCD camping trips to have a profoundly therapeutic effect and, even more shockingly, people like to come back. Repeating this experiential workshop for the 14th year, we'll begin with a brief presentation about our camping trips (that you may have seen in People Magazine) and
how they can inspire you to risk getting better. Following this, participants — patients, families, and professionals — will go on a field trip throughout LA in which participants will experience the exhilaration of conquering OCD fears in a group that goes beyond your imagination. Everyone will be encouraged to support and help one another, but participants will only do what they choose to do. The surprise will be in how much more you'll choose to do during this adventure.
Welcome Remarks
Denise Egan Stack, LMHC
Master of Ceremonies
Jeff Bell
Awards Presentation
Patricia Perkins IOCDF Service Award- Wendy Mueller
IOCDF Outstanding Career Achievement Award- Steven Rasmussen, MD
Keynote Address
Ethan S. Smith
This is the story of Ethan S. Smith - writer, director, actor, producer, and life long OCD sufferer. Join Ethan as he passionately, humorously, and kindly shares his journey from being bedridden in his parents’ guest room, to living across the country making it in Hollywood. Live through Ethan as he shows you incredible personal video from his most vulnerable and darkest hours to his most triumphant return to life. Ethan’s singular goal is to not only tell you his story, but also to impart the knowledge, lessons, and skills he learned along the way so that you, too, may have your own Hollywood ending.
Being a parent is scary in its own right, but can be even scarier if you have OCD. For some OCD
sufferers, this presents in the form of horrifying intrusive thoughts of sexual behavior, violence, neglect,
and incompetence toward their children. This panel will discuss mindfulness and cognitive behavioral approaches to treating these manifestations of OCD. Topics will include obsessive thoughts of pedophilia, infanticide, moral scrupulosity, and contamination fears unique to parenting; safe and ethical ERP strategies; as well as a discussion on how to keep OCD from impairing healthy parenting.
I will demonstrate with audience volunteers how I would approach a first session with someone coming
to me suffering from intrusive violent/sexual thoughts, including explaining why they occur, challenging irrational thoughts, and planning tolerable exposure exercises. This workshop will encourage OCD sufferers to seek treatment for these thoughts by demonstrating that effective CBT treatment does not involve forcing the patient to do “awful” things against their will, but rather is a collaborative process.
The workshop presenters will lead small groups in an interactive workshop designed for participants to create their own individualized relapse prevention workbook. Topics include understanding uncertainty and risk, lapses versus relapses, maintenance strategies, costs and benefits of giving into symptoms, value identification, developing alternative behaviors in life, crisis management, behavior chains, and creation of wellness plans.
Guilt is one of the main hallmarks of OCD and figures into many forms of this disorder, such as hyperresponsibility, scrupulosity, and morbid thoughts. When severe enough, it can be crippling, and can lead to seemingly endless compulsions. This talk will help sufferers to better understand what guilt is, how it affects them, how it may be an integral part of their disorder, and what can be done to effectively confront and overcome it.
This event is an opportunity for all conference attendees to meet the leaders in OCD research and learn about the findings presented through the displayed Research Posters. See pages 44–47 for a full listing of all of the Research Posters. Complimentary appetizers and cash bar.
People with life challenges use WRAP to develop and implement their own action plan for achieving their own goals. Individuals find empowerment from self-direction and responsible action. Peers work together to encourage personal accountability and provide the support necessary for continued progress. WRAP for Clutter applies this approach to people who struggle with clutter. In the group, people also find release from stigma and shame, and will use words that directly relate to behavior and experience, such as finding and keeping, instead of hoarding. Participants will receive a blank workbook to take home, with guidance in how to fill it in by an Advanced Level peer facilitator.
This support group aims to bring together individuals suffering with the unique challenge of dual-diagnosis OCD and addiction. The group is open to anyone who personally self-identifies as struggling with both substance use and managing OCD. This is a safe forum for members to express the tribulations and successes they have found, to seek out support and build community around this often-neglected topic. Both the group facilitators have personal experience with this topic. Participants are not required to be in any particular stage of change or sobriety to participate. We hope to increase awareness of dual diagnosis and offer support via optional contact exchange for supporting each other in maintaining recovery following the conference.
Living with symptoms of OCD and an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be difficult. For many, understanding the impact of each disorder and attempting to adaptively cope can be overwhelming. Some individuals “stumbled upon” the ASD diagnosis later in life while engaged in OCD treatment. In these cases, the individual, family members, or professional concluded that some challenging behaviors were better explained with an ASD diagnosis (vs. OCD alone). For both the individual and their family, the process of learning about “another disorder” can bring a sense of being overwhelmed, anger at earlier professionals for not “catching” the ASD, & a sense of shame. This support group will provide a forum to discuss these issues, including understanding of how a dual diagnosis impacts over time; occupational, social, and romantic impact of dual diagnosis; collaborating on treatment; maintaining motivation to engage in ERP; and collaboration with school and work.
Insomnia in people with OCD is often not addressed, and if left unchecked, poor sleep can lead to daytime fatigue, irritability, and heightened OCD symptoms. Fortunately, there are a number of strategies that are very helpful in improving sleep. In this workshop, we will explore the kinds of sleep difficulties that can occur in OCD and how poor sleep and OCD symptoms can exacerbate each other. Next, attendees will learn strategies to address trouble sleeping. Lastly, attendees will learn how to track their own sleep with the use of sleep diaries or wearable devices to help them get back to getting a good night’s rest.
This 2-day Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Group, led by Dr. Reid Wilson, is a treatment opportunity for individuals with OCD who might not otherwise have access to an intensive OCD treatment program. Components of this program include: how to alter rigidly held belief systems, how to let go of obsessions, how to gain mastery over compulsions, and how to increase courage and determination. There are two sessions offered this year in Los Angeles, one before and one after the conference:
This treatment opportunity will be held at the conference site at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles, CA. The group will be limited to 8 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. This program has sold out for each of the past 3 years we’ve offered it.
All participants must be referred by a mental health professional who has given the diagnosis of OCD. The cost is $375*.
To register, please download the application and referral form from: http://www.ocd2014.org/program/reidwilson/
If someone has ever mentioned the notion of “acceptance,” it might have sounded like you were being
asked to give up and resign yourself to a life limited by anxiety. In this highly experiential and fun workshop for attendees of all ages, participants will have the opportunity to discover that acceptance doesn’t mean resignation — it can actually mean active engagement with the meaningful things in life. Please join us to construct your personalized shield — see for yourself the price you pay for “protection” and what acceptance feels like.
Dating and marriage are challenging: Add OCD, and they can feel impossible! In this workshop, presenters will recount their misadventures into romance and how OCD overshadowed it all. Presenters will share their stories and how they learned to manage OCD within their relationship. They will candidly talk about what marriage is like when one spouse struggles with OCD, and share tips for what helps and what hurts in their own marriage. At the end of the workshop, each participant will reflect on his/her experience and identify an area for improvement.
This 2-day Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Group, led by Dr. Reid Wilson, is a treatment opportunity for individuals with OCD who might not otherwise have access to an intensive OCD treatment program. Components of this program include: how to alter rigidly held belief systems, how to let go of obsessions, how to gain mastery over compulsions, and how to increase courage and determination. There are two sessions offered this year in Los Angeles, one before and one after the conference:
This treatment opportunity will be held at the conference site at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles, CA. The group will be limited to 8 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. This program has sold out for each of the past 3 years we’ve offered it.
All participants must be referred by a mental health professional who has given the diagnosis of OCD. The cost is $375*.
To register, please download the application and referral form from: http://www.ocd2014.org/program/reidwilson/
