On Saturday October 14th from 11 AM to 1 PM PST, OCD Southern California is hosting an exciting OCD Awareness Week event! This free, virtual event is aimed for family members and loved ones of someone with OCD, a person with OCD themselves, mental health providers, and anyone who wants to know more about OCD! Anyone, from anywhere can attend the event. 

The event this upcoming Saturday will feature four speakers presenting on OCD related topics and then we will open it up to a large Q&A! Please see below for speaker’s names and bios, the title of their presentations, and then a description of those presentations. 

If you are already on OCD SoCal’s mailing list, you will receive the event link prior to the event. If you are not on our mailing list and would like to attend, please email: info@ocdsocal.org with ‘OCD Awareness Week’ in the subject line and include the email addresses you would like the Zoom link sent to–you will then simply log in at the event’s start time!

Melissa Mose, LMFT (https://www.melissamosemft.com) – “Parent to Parent: How To Realistically Apply the Information you Received to Help Your Loved One with OCD”
 
Presentation Description: As a parent of a daughter with OCD, Melissa has so many books and articles on parenting and how to reduce family accommodation–almost too many! Additionally, as a clinician working with families with OCD and anxiety, she can help families and teach parents best practices when living with their child with OCD. However, walking the walk sometimes felt too hard in her own home. Melissa often struggled to practically apply the parenting tools at home with her own daughter. Melissa will present on how she was able to apply the information she was given to support her daughter, and this talk will help you develop the courage, strength, and presence of mind to use the parenting tools you have learned in your loved one’s OCD therapy.

Chris Trondsen, LMFT (http://ocdsocal.org/about-us/board-of-directors/) – “A Powerful Frame of Mind: 8 Ways a Mindset Shift Can Speed up Your OCD Recovery.”
 
Presentation Description: Chris Trondsen suffered from severe OCD, leaving him housebound and unable to care for himself. After treatment, he has come full circle and is now an OCD treatment provider himself. When asked about his secret to recovery, Chris realized that, although finding a therapist specializing in OCD treatment and engaging in the treatment was necessary, it was really his frame of mind that allowed him to get better and recover from the disorder. Chris has laid out the top eight mindset shifts one has to make to succeed in treatment, and he is excited to share those with you!

Denise Egan Stack, LMHC (https://iocdf.org/providers/egan-stack-denise/) – “How to Empower A Loved One with OCD to Overcome Avoidance!”
 
Presentation Description: OCD causes the individual to experience intense distress, and avoidance becomes one of their most prominent coping methods. However, avoidance leads to the refusal to attend school, work, engage with friends, attend family activities, and eventually move out to become independent on their own. Denise Egan Stack is both a licensed mental health professional and parent of a child with OCD, and she will speak to attendees on how to best support someone in your life with OCD as a family member or loved one who is avoiding life engagement. This can include school refusal, avoidance of leaving the house, and missing out on other life events. Attendees will leave with tangible tools to support a loved one in reducing and eventually eliminating avoidance.

Ryan Vadrine, MD (https://www.ryanvmd.com) – “An Overview of Medication for OCD.”
 
Presentation Description: There are many treatment options for OCD, including therapy, medications, and neuromodulation. This talk will present the basics about 1st- and 2nd-line medications used in treating OCD, including expected response, time to response, and side effects. Additionally, the talk and Q&A portion will answer your questions on neuromodulation techniques for OCD, including treatments like transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and questions on supplements, psilocybin, ketamine, and more.

Additionally, the event will be co-facilitated by OCD So Cal board member Liz Trondsen (http://ocdsocal.org/about-us/board-of-directors/), a mother of a son with OCD, along with co-facilitator and fellow OCD SoCal board member Sue Chudy, LCSW (https://www.chudycounselingservices.com), an OCD specialist who will help answer questions and provide resources in the chat!

This event is live and will not be recorded, so we look forward to seeing you at the event on Saturday, October 14, at 11am PST!