OCD Southern California is happy to announce the return of the Speakers Series in 2025! Speakers Series events will be held in San Diego in April and Orange County in May.
These free or low-cost, in-person events will feature presentations by local OCD specialist treatment providers. They will facilitate panels and presentations on OCD and related disorders and host a question-and-answer segment. This will also be an excellent opportunity to meet and connect with others in the local OCD community.
These events are for individuals with OCD, their family members and loved ones, and anyone wanting to learn more about OCD. General talks will be offered, and the Speakers Series will end with a Q&A session featuring many of the day’s speakers.
A professional tract will be offered at the Orange County location, and clinicians can earn 3 CE credits for the day.
For further information on the Speakers Series, please contact us through email at info@ocdsocal.org. Note, the Inland Empire Speaker Series is happening in October. More information on that event later on this year.
Please scroll below for more information and for the link to register for the San Diego and Orange County events!
On Saturday, April 26, San Diego will be hosting their event from 10:00 AM to 1:30 PM PST. This FREE event will be held at the Mira Mesa Library at 8405 New Salem Street in San Diego. Food and Beverages will be provided, and free parking is available.
There will be two panel presentations and a Q&A session at the end. The presentation titles are:
From A to Z: How to Get and Do Effective Treatment for ERP (clinician panel)
Breaking the Cycle: OCD, Family Accommodation and the Path to Support (Family & Loved Ones Panel).
This event is being held in a public library. Therefore, we are not able to charge for tickets to this event. When you register, please consider a donation to help us continue to sponsor free and low cost events such as this one.
Orange County will host a Speakers Series on Saturday, May 3, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM PST. This event is being held at Orange Coast College at 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. There is free parking adjacent to the event location.
This event is open to individuals with OCD, their family members and loved ones, mental health providers, students, and the general public. Talks for the general public will be presented throughout the day. Beverages and a catered lunch will be provided.
Early bird registration is $10 per individual. Registration costs will increase to $15.00, beginning April 21. The low-cost sign-up will aid our non-profit in covering venue and food costs.
This event is also for mental health providers wanting to learn more about OCD. There will be a clinician tract at Orange County, and we are offering 3 CE credits to licensed clinicians who attend the full day. For licensed therapists (LMFT, LPCC, LCSW, and psychologists), please purchase the Professional ticket when you register.
The Mitchell Family (Dylan, Dewayne, and Jamie) – March’s support group’s special guests
Join us this Saturday, March 8th, from 11 am to 1 pm PT (Pacific Time) for our free, virtual Family and Loved One’s OCD Support Group! It is facilitated by Chris Trondsen, LMFT, a licensed therapist who overcame OCD, along with his mom, Liz Trondsen. To join, email info@ocdsocal.org and ask for the support group Zoom link to be sent! Anyone from anywhere can join!
We are excited to welcome the Mitchell family as our special guests for March’s support group. We know how important it is for you to find hope by hearing that people with OCD get better and live full and fulfilling lives. Also, hearing from parents and loved ones on what they did to support the person in their life with OCD to better ensure they recover from the disorder is important. Dylan, who has OCD, and his parents, Dewayne and Jamie, are excited to share Dylan’s recovery journey.
For Dylan, it all started in the senior year of his college career. Dylan started to struggle, and at the end of college, he was beginning to have a rough time. He noticed something was off when he returned home. In retrospect, his mom, Jamie, says he has had OCD his whole life, but Dylan never really noticed the symptoms until he got older.
It was not until college that he received an OCD diagnosis. He began treatment at The Gateway Institute, where he started getting support from the center’s founder and then began therapy with Chris Trondsen, LMFT.
Through both the treatment tools he was given in therapy and through medication, he was able to begin to live a normal and healthy lifestyle by conquering and facing his fears. Dylan recognized that it was challenging when he was first battling OCD, but he saw there was a light at the end of the tunnel if he worked hard and trusted the process.
After successful treatment, Dylan is now a business development manager for a landscaping company! He’s been successful in managing OCD, and he now feels that he has his whole life in front of him, and the days of struggling with OCD are behind him! Join us next Saturday to hear Dylan’s heroic journey and how his parents both supported him during his OCD recovery journey!
After Dylan and his parents share their recovery story, we will open the group for an interactive question-and-answer segment!
As a reminder, we do not record the support group for privacy reasons. This allows attendees the opportunity to share their experiences and ask questions in a safe space. We encourage you to attend or listen to the support group live on Saturday, March 8th! See you there at 11 am PT.
Victoria Lane and her family – February’s support group’s special guests
Join us this Saturday, February 8th, from 11 am to 1 pm PT (Pacific Time) for our free, virtual Family and Loved One’s OCD Support Group! It is facilitated by Chris Trondsen, LMFT, a licensed therapist who overcame OCD, along with his mom, Liz Trondsen. To join, email info@ocdsocal.org and ask for the support group Zoom link to be sent!
For our February support group, we will speak with Victoria–who received treatment for OCD–and her parents! Victoria joins us as a young adult with OCD who is also a Social Work Fellow at the OCD Institute of Texas, one of the top residential treatment centers for OCD in the country. She will be accompanied by her parents, Janan and Bill, who have been integral to her journey.
Victoria was officially diagnosed with OCD at age 20 and underwent intensive treatment. Inspired by her own recovery, she chose to pursue a master’s degree in clinical social work to work with those living with OCD, anxiety, and related disorders– and empower them to regain control of their lives, just as she did. She encourages everyone to understand that while treatment requires hard work, it has the potential to be life-changing. Her parents will share their insights on what was helpful—and what wasn’t—in supporting Victoria through her recovery journey.
After Victoria and her parents share their recovery story, we will open the group for an interactive question-and-answer segment!
As a reminder, we do not record the support group for privacy reasons. This allows attendees the opportunity to share their experiences and ask questions in a safe space. We encourage you to attend or listen to the support group live on Saturday, February 8th! See you there at 11 am PT.
We are excited to hold a free, virtual event in partnership with board members Chris and Liz Trondsen’s Family and Loved One’s OCD Support Group! The event is this Saturday, January 11, from 11am to 2pm PST! PLEASE NOTE: For those of you who regularly attend the support group ran by Liz and Chris Trondsen, the group typically ends an hour earlier, but since this is a special event to kick off the new year, we are extending it an hour to ensure we have time for your questions and answers! If you are interested in attending, please email info@ocdsocal.org requesting the event’s Zoom link (subject title: Jan. 11 Link Request). NOTE: This event will not be recorded and we encourage you to join live!
Here is the information about Saturday, Jan. 11th’s event:
For the January 11th Saturday support group, we are excited to offer a special event. One question we have often received is if diet, exercise, supplements, sleep, yoga, social support, meditation, and other stress relieving measures help reduce anxiety and improve OCD symptoms. We heard you loud and clear and are excited to offer a group focusing on this very topic!
On that Saturday, we are featuring four experts (scroll down to see full bios and links) in this interactive and informative presentation.
Tom Smalley, MS, CSCS, is a strength and conditioning coach, as well as an Olympic weightlifter who recently won three gold medals. He will be discussing the importance of exercise, movement, conditioning, and activity and how it correlates with a reduction in symptoms of anxiety and OCD.
Elizabeth Trondsen, RD, is a registered dietitian with 42 years of experience in the field working with patients in major hospitals in Southern California. She will discuss the role of nutrition in anxiety and OCD, the mind-gut connection, supplements that are found to aid in stress reduction, and offer sites, recipes, and recommendations.
Krista Reed, LSCSW, is a licensed therapist who utilizes yoga, mindfulness, diaphragmatic breathing, and other similar techniques when working with clients diagnosed with anxiety and OCD. She will lead Saturday’s attendees in chair yoga exercises that help with stress relief.
Lastly, Chris Trondsen, LMFT, is a licensed therapist who has received additional training in CBT-I, which stands for cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. He will be discussing the correlation between sleep and wellness, the importance of sleep and its impact on OCD and anxiety, how to improve your sleep, and techniques to help someone who is struggling with proper sleep.
The presentation will conclude with these four speakers having a roundtable discussion on how you can tangibly and realistically utilize the information provided to create a wellness plan of your own to aid in OCD and anxiety treatment. Then, the second half will feature an open Q&A where you can ask any question about any of the topics discussed in the presentation or OCD-specific questions that are relevant to your personal situation, either as someone with OCD or how to support a loved one with OCD! We look forward to seeing you at the event on Saturday, January 11, 2025!
If you attended part one of this talk last year, the major difference for part two is using case examples to show how you can create your own wellness plan that incorporates the specific lifestyle changes offered at the event. This allows you to start enacting these changes using the information from the event that will guide you in making systematic changes that will help change your relationship with stress and anxiety, making it easier to recover from OCD.
Tom Smalley, MS, CSCS –Strength and Conditioning Coach; Olympic Weightlifter
Tom Smalley received his Masters of Science in Exercise and Sports Science from Merrimack College and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Siena College. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the NSCA. In addition, he holds a USAW Level 1 Weightlifting Coaching certification and a Level 1 Coaching certification from Precision Nutrition.
In January 2020, Smalley co-created the Anxiety in Athletes – a task force and online resource center with the help of the IOCDF. Smalley has a strong passion for weightlifting and began competing in 2021, 8 years after his mental health—OCD and muscle dysmorphia—forced him to put a halt to his athletic career.
Krista Reed, LSCSW –Licensed Therapist and Certified Yoga Teacher
Krista obtained her bachelor’s in social work at Kansas State University in 2005 and her master’s in social work at Newman University in 2008. She enjoys working with children, adolescents, and adults. She has specialized training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and has been utilizing this model for over a decade. She is certified in Exposure and Response Prevention for OCD Treatment through the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also a professional member of the International OCD Foundation and has completed their Pediatric OCD Training. She has completed training in Body Dysmorphic Disorder through Massachusetts General Hospital. She is also a member of The TLC Foundation for Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors and has completed her Professional Training to treat those with trichotillomania, skin picking disorders, and other BFRBs. In addition, she is a certified Yoga Teacher and utilizes yoga and mindfulness techniques in treatment. To learn more about Krista and her therapy practice, please visit: https://apbwichita.com.
Liz Trondsen, RD –Registered Dietition
Liz earned her bachelor’s degree in nutrition and food science and completed a dietetic internship in Detroit, Michigan before becoming a Registered Dietitian. She has worked in various hospitals throughout Southern California in both food service and clinical nutrition. Liz is especially interested in the relatively new area of nutritional study – the mind-gut connection and the recent advances in the study of nutrition and mental health. Liz is a mother of a son with OCD and is on the Board of Directors for OCD Southern California.
Chris Trondsen, MS, LMFT, APCC –Licensed Therapist; CBT-I Trained
Chris Trondsen suffered from undiagnosed, severe OCD, BDD, major depressive disorder, and anxiety and panic attacks beginning as a young child. It was not until his early 20s that Chris received both a formal diagnosis and specialized treatment. Once in recovery, Chris began advocating publicly for mental health and shared his story of recovery on TV, including the Dr. Drew Show, the Montel Williams Show, and NBC, as well as in various newspapers and websites including Buzzfeed and VICE. Additionally, Chris began speaking at Annual OCD Conferences, including giving the keynote with his mom at the 2011 conference.
No longer under the control of the disorders, Chris now works as a clinician in the mental health field, treating OCD, BDD, and related disorders at The Gateway Institute in Costa Mesa, California (https://www.gatewayocd.com/chris-trondsen/) . He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Psychology at California State University, Long Beach, and earned a Masters of Science in Counseling at California State University, Fullerton. In addition to the training he received in both undergrad and graduate school, as well as at The Gateway Institute, Chris received specialized training in the treatment of OCD through the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF)’s Behavioral Therapy Training Institute (BTTI) – https://iocdf.org/professionals/training-institute/btti/. Chris has completed both the general BTTI and the pediatric BTTI, which focuses in treating OCD and related disorders in children and teens. He is Vice President and board member of OCD Southern California (www.ocdsocal.org), an official affiliate of the IOCDF, and a board member of the IOCDF (https://iocdf.org/board-of-directors/). Every Wednesday of the month, at 9am PST, Chris hosts the IOCDF’s “Ask the Experts” and “Lunch and Learn” livestreams with Dr. Liz McIngvale. You can find more information here: https://iocdf.org/livestreams/
Chris is diagnosed with his own sleep condition, which led him to research the impact of sleep disorders on physical and mental health, as well as receive additional education in how sleep disorders are treated. He started noticing a pattern of poor sleep habits in clients diagnosed with OCD, anxiety disorders, and mood disorders, and became interested in the connection between poor sleep and heightened anxiety. He received training in CBT-I, a front-line treatment modality to treat insomnia and other sleep conditions. To learn more about CBT- I, visit: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10002474/ .
If you would like the link to join the event on Saturday, January 11, 2025, from 11am to 2pm PST, please email info@ocdsocal.org with the subject line as Jan. 11 Link Request. You can use this email if you have any questions as well!
We look forward to seeing you there on Saturday, January 11th, at 11am PST for our three hour event!
