Each month the IOCDF’s Spotlight blog brings you the latest in research news and information on OCD. Spotlight is also available via email so you can receive the latest research news and information directly in your inbox. Sign up to receive future issues by going here and selecting the “Spotlight” option on our email signup form.

The Intensive Program for OCD at Bradley Hospital in East Providence, RI provides treatment to children and adolescents, ages 5 to 18, who experience significant impairment in their daily lives due to OCD and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. The program is one of many renowned programs and services that bring families from across the country to Bradley Hospital, the nation’s first psychiatric hospital devoted exclusively to children and adolescents. For more information, you can contact Amy Cousineau, LICSW (Clinical Social Worker) at 401-432-1516 or ACousineau@lifespan.org.

The Anxiety & Phobia Treatment Center at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, NY plans to offer a six-week workshop for people suffering with OCD starting in May. According to the National Institute for Health, approximately 2.2 million adult Americans have some form of OCD. Their approach will be a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy one that includes exposure experiences and ritual prevention. The workshop will consist of weekly group sessions and individual sessions with one of their anxiety specialists. Please click here to go to their website for more information.

Christina J. Taylor, Ph.D, a member of our Clinical and Scientific Advisory Board, announces the release of her new book, “OCD: A Workbook for Clinicians, Children and Teens; Actions to Beat, Control & Defeat Obsessive Compulsive Disorder”. This book is a user-friendly, creative and interactive book to help children and teens take control of OCD. With specific chapters for each type of OCD, children and teens will learn cognitive behavioral strategies to overcome their obsessions and compulsions. The book is available on Amazon.com and Pesi.com.

Some people with OCD manage to mask their behaviors so they’re less obvious. For others, social situations trigger compulsions. Click here to view an infographic that illustrates some things you might notice in a person with OCD.

The TLC Foundation is currently seeking volunteers to participate in research studies regarding BFRBs, or Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, that include trichotillomania, skin picking disorder, chronic nail biting, cheek biting and similar behaviors. By participating in BFRB research, you will help researchers develop better ways to diagnose and treat BFRB disorders. There are several internet-based surveys and regional participation opportunities that need your help! Click here to go to TLC’s website for full details.

The iCounselor OCD iPhone app teaches you skills to resist obsessions and compulsions! All material was written by a licensed psychotherapist (LCSW) with twenty-five years of counseling experience. This app is compatible with the iPhone or iPod Touch. Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later. For more information and to download the app, go to http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/icounselor-ocd/id338431800?mt=8.

“40 BAGS IN 40 DAYS” is a Facebook page where you can face a challenge designed to help you get the clutter out of your home. You can have a bag, less than a bag, or more than one bag a day. Furniture or big items count, as well as boxes. Heck it all counts. 🙂 The overall goal is to tackle your home a spot at a time, GET RID OF STUFF, pace yourself, and be detached. Good luck!

OCD Challenge is an online, interactive, behavioral program designed to help people suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The program was built by psychologists who are leaders in the field of behavior therapy and have a specialization in the area of OCD. OCD Challenge has three Modules: Assessment, Gaining Awareness and Intervention. Users will be guided through the Modules and taught skills and strategies for managing their OCD behavior. OCD Challenge uses the principles of exposure and response prevention (the treatment of choice for OCD) to help the user to confront and challenge their OCD. OCD Challenge is not therapy and there is not a therapist on the other end of the computer telling you what to do. Instead, OCD Challenge is a program built to interact with the user in a way that is interesting, useful, and moves the user toward change. OCD Challenge is offering 6 months free use of its website with the promo code “POMA” to anyone who is interested. You can access the website at ocdchallenge.com. For a virtual tour of the website go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzR88HLawAg.

OCD can destroy lives without proper treatment. But that’s okay because the acronym is funny, edgy, and makes for great jokes on silly and cute holiday sweaters. Many individuals and organizations have shared their disappointment and frustration with a Christmas sweater available now in Target stores across the US that declares whoever wears it a sufferer of “OCD: Obsessive Christmas Disorder.” Let’s help Target understand why this OCD sweater is more than just a silly joke. Continue messaging, tweeting, and emailing Target to let them know how their sweater furthers the stigma and obstacles OCD sufferers too often face in accessing treatment. Get in the holiday spirit by tweeting @Target with a photo of you in your favorite ugly Christmas sweater to show Target you’d rather your holiday spirit come dressed in hideous shades of red and green with way too many details and embellishments rather than an inaccurate and dismissive message about OCD. Let Target know this holiday season, you’d rather wear ugly sweaters over lame ones.