News

ANNOUNCING THE 2024 FAITH & OCD CONFERENCE
Navigating OCD in Diverse Faith-Based Communities

Thursday, April 18, 2024
REGISTRATION OPENING SOON!

The International OCD Foundation (IOCDF) is excited to present the fourth annual Faith and OCD Conference taking place virtually on Thursday, April 18, 2024!

The conference was specifically created to address the needs of a diverse community — spanning all faiths, ethnicities, and backgrounds. We’ll provide education about effective treatment and ways to support those in the faith community living with OCD.

Join the IOCDF for this collaborative conversation between faith leaders, mental health providers, and the OCD community!

Join us for this collaborative conversation between faith leaders, mental health providers, and the OCD community!

Who Should Attend

Individuals & Families — Those with lived experience with anxiety and OCD will hear from faith leaders and mental health professionals about how to build a supportive network for recovery — and receive messages of hope shared by those impacted by OCD and related disorders.

Faith Leaders — Spiritual and religious leaders will hear from those with lived experience with faith-related anxiety and OCD and find out how to recognize symptoms. Learn about treatment options and how you can help in the recovery process.

Mental Health Professionals — Mental health providers will gain insight from faith leaders about the ways anxiety, OCD, and treatment intersect with their clients’ faith practices. Learn how to adapt your practice by integrating faith leaders and families in the development of treatment plans.

Board members of OCD Connecticut, along with Christina J. Taylor, Ph.D., OCD Connecticut Clinical Board Advisor, will be presenting a roundtable, “Barriers to Getting Good Help for OCD: Consumers and Advocates Speak Out” at the ADAA Annual Conference in Boston on April 13, 2024.

The board members will discuss their first-hand experiences with OCD and their journey to activism. Discussion with the audience will focus on the development of comprehensive strategies to expand access to expert care for OCD, including education, research, activism, and lobbying.

The Online BDD Conference offers an opportunity for professionals to learn how to treat individuals with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD).

Professionals will hear from leading researchers and experts in the field and will walk away with a new understanding and practical strategies for working with those affected by BDD.

The Online BDD Conference also provides critical information to individuals, families, and loved ones affected by BDD to educate people and their families about effective treatment.

Individuals living with BDD will participate in a support group led by Scott Granet, LCSW, while family members and supporters will enjoy a special group geared at learning to take care of yourself while supporting a loved one.

An additional highlight of the program is the Success Panel featuring individuals with BDD who have been through treatment and want to share the lessons they learned along the way. The panel discussion will be followed by a Q&A with the panelists.The full schedule will feature sessions for a variety of audiences:

• Individuals with BDD: Those with lived experience with BDD. Programming focuses on recovery options and building motivation for treatment.
• Family Members and Supporters: Non-professionals who have been affected by BDD in their families or other relations. Programming focuses on communication skills and effective support systems.
• Clinicians: Professionals who treat BDD. Programming focuses on skills training and enhancing the clinical understanding of the disorder.

The International OCD Foundation’s Online OCD Camp sponsored by McLean OCDI Jr. is a virtual event for youth with OCD, and their families!

Created especially for youth between the ages of 6 and 17, OCD Camp will feature two days of interactive sessions and activities for three age groups.

In addition, the program will include sessions for parents/guardians and opportunities for fun and socialization with other families.

You can choose from four audience tracks:

• Elementary Schoolers (Suggested Ages 6–11)
• Middle Schoolers (Suggested Ages 12–14)
• High Schoolers (Suggested Ages: 15–17)
• Parents and Guardians

Registration Fees: $65 • One rate no matter how many family members attend.

One price covers registration, whether it’s just one person or your entire family attending! During the registration process, you will submit family member information and which tracks they will be attending.

Inference-based Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (I-CBT) is an evidence-based treatment that is a new approach to treating OCD. It is based on the central idea that obsessions are abnormal doubts about what “could be”, or “might be” (e.g. “I might have left the stove on”; “I might be contaminated”; “I might be a deviant”).

According to this approach, obsessional doubts do not come out of the blue, but they arise as the result of a dysfunctional reasoning narrative that is characterized by a tendency to distrust the senses and an over-reliance on the imagination. As a result, obsessional doubts are able to persist without ever being resolved by carrying out compulsions.

I-CBT is a cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT), but it is different from standard cognitive-behavioral approaches to the treatment of OCD.

To learn more about I-CBT, go to icbt.online.

IOCDF is so happy to announce the launch of its new livestream series, Supporting Our Families, with a premiere air date of Thursday, November 9th at 7pm ET (4pm PT) on YouTube!

This livestream event will be an interactive discussion dedicated to parents and loved ones of individuals of all ages living with OCD. Join JACK Mental Health Advocacy (MHA) founder, IOCDF Advocate, and mom Kim Vincenty, along with parent and IOCDF Advocate Chris Baier, and IOCDF experts, Natasha Daniels, LCSW, and Jon Hershfield, MFT as they explore the topics that are important to you.

If you have questions about accommodating and reassurance, finding the right therapist, dealing with treatment resistance, or the many other unique issues facing parents of those with OCD, this event is for you.

Mark your calendars and we hope to see you there!

The Tomczak Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital’s Department of Neurology is currently conducting a study where they are trying to characterize the gut microbiome in patients with Chronic Tic Disorders (CTD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Tic Associated OCD (TOCD) as compared to healthy controls and correlate variations in the gut microbiome with OCD and tic symptom severity. Currently, they are in the recruitment stage and are hoping that they may be able to connect for patient referrals for its study. There are eligibility requirements for the patients that they are recruiting such as:

Inclusion Criteria:

• Individuals who are age 6 to 17 with obsessive-compulsive disorder, chronic tic disorder, or are healthy controls without any neurological conditions.
• Parents or legal guardians willing to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Individuals who do not speak English
• Patients with bipolar disorder, psychotic disorders, substance use disorders, functional neurologic disorders, Autism spectrum disorder, moderate to severe depression not in remission within the past year, eating disorders, or are pregnant.
• Patients with a prior diagnosis of Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections (PANDAS) or Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS).
• Patients with co-morbid GI conditions including obesity, celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, abdominal migraines, gastrointestinal cancers, gastric emptying disorders, and peptic ulcer disease.
• Patients who have had medication changes in the 4 weeks prior to either stool collection time point.

If you are interested in participating in this study, call 617-919-9302 or email [email protected]. Download a summary of the study’s information.

Dr. Emily Ricketts, an investigator at the UCLA Child OCD Program, is conducting a survey on emotion regulation and health behaviors in children with OCD aged 10-17. The research study involves a 25-minute parent survey and a 20-minute child survey.

Download their IRB-approved study information sheet, as well as the flyer with a QR code. Upon scanning the QR code, interested participants will be prompted to input their name and email. After completing this form, you will receive a separate email with a personalized and secure link to the survey.

Upon successful completion of the survey and quality assurance checks, each participant will receive a $10 Amazon e-gift card.

We are happy to announce that Katie Marrotte, MSW, LCSW, will be our guest lecturer at a virtual Zoom event we are holding on Thursday, November 16th at 7:30pm. She will be discussing the topic of Inference-Based Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for OCD. Inference-based CBT (I-CBT) is an evidence-based treatment of choice for OCD. I-CBT is an upstream modality that targets the obsessional doubt of the OCD cycle. When the obsessional doubt is resolved, then the anxiety and compulsive aspects of OCD do not take place.

Katie is a local therapist and OCD trainer with lived experience. She believes that those suffering from OCD deserve more evidence-based treatment options than just Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP).

Katie is a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in the treatment of OCD. Katie has a Master’s degree in Social Work with a concentration in Health and Mental Health from the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford, Connecticut. Social work focuses not just on pathology, but also looks at human development through a lens of policy, social justice, and social welfare to give a more complete look at factors affecting people on a grander scale. This background in social justice contributes to her passion for pursuing a more robust set of skills for treating OCD, as well as advocating for multifaceted treatment approaches and competency for OCD specialists.

Katie also runs a private practice offering Inference-Based CBT, Exposure Response Prevention, Mindfulness-Based Treatment, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for OCD. Katie believes that the most effective approach for treating OCD should be evidence-based, multifaceted, and most importantly, informed by the needs of the client.

Her website is ocdtrainingschool.com.

OCD Connecticut is taking part in the One Million Steps for OCD Walk sponsored by @iocdf with a grassroots community walk during OCD Awareness Week in October 2023. This walk provides a supportive community, increases awareness, and raises funds for the IOCDF and its Local Affiliates, enabling them to continue their mission. Funds raised will benefit the OCD and related disorders community. Together we’re embracing uncertainty, one step at a time!

Date: Saturday, October 14, 2023 at 9:00 AM (Rain date is Sunday, October 15, 2023)
Location: Jennings Beach, 880 South Benson Road, Fairfield, CT

You can support OCD CT by either registering to join our Community Walk Team or by making a donation to our team. Visit our Team Page for the One Million Steps Walk for more information.