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Posts Tagged with family and loved ones ocd support group

Published December 12, 2025

You are Invited to “An OCD Master Class: Family & Loved Ones’ Edition” at this Saturday’s Free, Online Family & Loved Ones OCD Support Group!

Every second Saturday of the month, from 11am to 1pm PST, OCD SoCal board members Chris Trondsen, LMFT, and Liz Trondsen host a virtual, free, Family & Loved Ones OCD Support Group. To join us for our December support group, which is Saturday, December 13, 2025, from 11am to 1pm PST, please email us at info@ocdsocal.org and just request the link! Anyone from anywhere can join!

An OCD Master Class: Family & Loved Ones’ Edition

For the final group of 2025, on Saturday, December 13th, we invite you to an OCD master class that addresses all aspects of OCD and its treatment. We receive so many questions during our Family & Loved Ones Support Group, that we will focus on this for the December support group. We have invited two experts in the field.

However, you do not want to miss the opening discussion that precedes the Q&A. We have invited Lauren Rosen, LMFT, the author of the upcoming “The Mental Compulsions Workbook for OCD.” Additionally, we will be joined by USC Psychiatrist and researcher, Adam Frank, Ph.D., MD. These two special guests will lend their expertise to lead a complete master class on OCD. 

The opening discussion will incorporate key OCD topics that include: what to do if your loved one has stubborn or difficult to treat OCD, how your loved one can get better if their OCD is predominantly mental, expectations on improvement during different stages of OCD treatment, how to find scientific-based resources for OCD, how one gets better from OCD, and what should family members and loved ones do or don’t do to make your loved one’s recovery more likely. Additional topics include a discussion on frontline medications for OCD treatment, what to expect regarding side effects and improvements, and a discussion on additional interventions that include TMS, ketamine, deep brain stimulation, and psychedelics.

We will kick off the group with a master class, so you have a solid understanding of every element of OCD recovery and treatment. We will then dedicate the second half to answering your specific questions that remain after the open discussion, either on what was discussed earlier or your personal situation.

Chris Trondsen, LMFT, who also has OCD, along with his mom, Liz Trondsen, will host the support group and provide additional insights and resources! Do not miss the final group of 2025!

The event is this Saturday, December 13th from 11AM – 1 PM PST. To join us for our December support group, please email us at info@ocdsocal.org and just request the link!

Learn more about our guest presenters:

Lauren Rosen, MA, LMFT is a psychotherapist and the Founder & Director of the Center for the Obsessive Mind. She is a well-respected member of the OCD and Anxiety Treatment Community. Lauren is the author of The Mental Compulsions Workbook for OCD. She regularly speaks at conferences on the topics of OCD, Anxiety and Eating Disorders and has offered lectures and keynote presentations on these topics, too. She is the co-host of the Purely OCD Podcast and an advocate for those with OCD and Anxiety Disorders.
While the center is based in Southern California, Lauren also works with individuals in Florida, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. She also offers services in select other states and countries as is permitted by law.
In her work as a therapist, Lauren specializes supporting people who struggle with OCD, Anxiety Disorders, Eating Disorders and Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders. She also has experience supporting individuals in navigating trauma and depression.
Lauren thrives on supporting others to live full and rich lives while contending with a whole host of thoughts and feelings. Brains can be tricky. Learning how to operate them effectively is key! In the service of helping people navigate the ins and outs of their minds, Lauren’s work focuses on evidence-based treatments, like Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Exposure & Response Prevention and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. 
Lauren trained at the OCD Center of LA and under Elyse Resch MS, RDN, CEDRD-S, Fiaedp, FADA, FAND, Nutrition Therapist and co-author of Intuitive Eating. Lauren graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with her BA in Psychology before earning her MA in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University and is a certified Intuitive Eating counsellor.
Website: Home – The Center for the Obsessive Mind

Dr. Adam C Frank is a psychiatrist, researcher, and Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.  He attended UCLA for medical school and graduate school and holds a PhD in neuroscience.  He completed adult psychiatry residency at UCSF where he participated in additional training and research in neuromodulation treatments—such as TMS and DBS—for psychiatric indications like depression and OCD.  Dr. Frank currently divides his time between caring for individuals with OCD in an outpatient psychiatry clinic, supervising and teaching psychiatry residents at USC, and conducting research on the mechanisms of OCD and improving treatment outcomes through the use of neuroimaging, wearable biosensors, and neuromodulation. 
Website: Adam Frank – Keck School of Medicine of USC

In order to foster a safe community, we do not record the support group. This allows attendees the opportunity to share their experiences and ask questions in a safe space. We encourage you to attend or listen in to the support group live on Saturday. We look forward to seeing you this Saturday, December 13th from 11AM – 1 PM PST. To join us for our December support group, please email us at info@ocdsocal.org and just request the link!

Published October 3, 2025

Dr. Nathaniel Van Kirk Presents “Igniting Willpower: Separating Fact from Fiction in Motivation!” on Sat., Oct. 11th!

Every second Saturday of the month, from 11am to 1pm PDT, Chris Trondsen, LMFT, and Liz Trondsen host a virtual, free, Family & Loved Ones OCD Support Group. For the month of October, we are hosting a special collaboration event with OCD Southern California, an official affiliate of the IOCDF, to kick off OCD Awareness Week! This event will be for both people with OCD, as well as family members, loved ones, and spouses of people with OCD. Anyone from anywhere is able to join!

The event is on Saturday, October 11th from 11AM – 1 PM PT. If you are not currently on our email list, please email: info@ocdsocal.org and request the event Zoom link!

For our October Family & Loved Ones OCD Support Group and OCD SoCal collab, we are happy to welcome Nathaniel Van Kirk, Ph.D., recently named the Program Director of the McLean OCD Institute in Boston, MA. 

Nathaniel has prepared a presentation for attendees titled, “Igniting Willpower: Separating Fact from Fiction in Motivation!” – Nathaniel Van Kirk, Ph.D. (https://iocdf.org/providers/van-kirk-nathaniel/)

Presentation description: Getting better from OCD is challenging and takes a lot of motivation and dedication. This talk will first debunk some common motivational myths that can lead to burn out and hopelessness. After addressing these common myths, the talk will then provide attendees with strategies for building motivation around OCD treatment. If you are struggling with motivation in your own recovery, you will not want to miss this presentation! Additionally, this presentation will enable family members, loved ones, and caregivers to support their loved one while they implement these tools to make it more likely the sufferer in their life to build motivation. The talk will also discuss how to stay motivated as a loved one experiences the inevitable ups and downs of OCD treatment.

You do not want to miss this presentation! OCD Awareness Week 2025 is dedicated to educating the public on what OCD truly is and this event will kick off awareness week. Feel free to invite anyone you feel would benefit from this presentation. You do not have to be in California to attend this free, virtual event; it is for anyone, anywhere.

We look forward to seeing you at the free, virtual event this Saturday! Please email us with any questions you may have and if you are not on our mailing list, please email us requesting the link for the October 11th event: info@ocdsocal.org! We will see you at 11am on October 11, 2025!

Published September 11, 2025

Attend Our Free, Virtual Family & Loved Ones OCD Support Group This Saturday, September 13th at 11am PDT!

Join us for our September support group this Saturday, September 13 from 11AM – 1 PM PDT.  To receive the Zoom link for the support group, please email: info@ocdsocal.org

For our September Family & Loved Ones OCD Support Group, we are happy to welcome Kimberley Quinlan, LMFT, one of the leading voices in the OCD community. Besides having a successful private practice specializing in OCD and related disorders, she also has a popular podcast, “Your Anxiety Toolkit.”

She joins us as both a clinician and a mom with personal experience of what to do when a loved one is suffering. Titled “From Loved One to Loved One: What to Do When Your Loved One is Struggling,” Kimberley will walk through what she did when her daughter recently had a sudden and intense onset of various mental health struggles. Kimberley will lay out exactly how she handled her daughter’s crisis situation-how she jumped in and found the right resources and the right therapist to help her daughter. She will also share what she does now to help her daughter maintain her wellness. She will give you tangible steps and go-to directions of what to do to help your loved one find and navigate resources that will start him/her on a road to recovery.

Then Kimberley will discuss how she navigated her own OCD and PTSD that came about watching her daughter struggle. This part of her presentation will help you, the loved one, learn to manage your own anxiety and give self-care tips on managing the impact on the supporter of someone with OCD.

Lastly, beyond her personal experience, in her role as a licensed clinician, she will discuss what your roles are to initiate action and create a plan to help your loved one be open to, and get, mental health treatment. She will also stay for the Q & A where she will answer any of your questions!

Join us as we help you create a treatment and action plan to support your loved one with OCD, as well as get your questions answered!

In order to foster a safe community, we do not record the support group. This allows attendees the opportunity to share their experiences and ask questions in a safe space. We encourage you to attend or listen in to the support group live on Saturday.

To reach Kimberley Quinlan’s website and for her bio, please visit: Kimberley Quinlan – Therapy & Counseling for OCD & Eating Disorders

Email us at: info@ocdsocal.org for Saturday’s Zoom link and we hope to see you there this Saturday, September 13th at 11am PDT!

Published July 17, 2025

Join us this Saturday, July 19th, from 11am to 1pm PT for our July virtual, Family & Loved One’s OCD Support Group!

We are excited to hold a special edition of our monthly family and loved ones OCD Support Group this Saturday, July 19, from 11 AM to 1 PM PT. We typically have our support group every second Saturday of the month, but last Saturday, your group co-facilitators, Chris Trondsen, LMFT, And Liz Trondsen, were presenting at the IOCDF’s 30th annual OCD conference. It was great to meet many of you there and hear that our support means so much to you! So, to make up for missing last week, we are actually holding the July support group this Saturday, July 19 from 11 AM to 1 PM. If you would like to get the link to this Saturday’s support group, and are already not on our mailing list, please email us at: info@ocdsocal.org and provide all the email addresses you would like the Zoom link emailed to.

We are bringing on a special guest doctor, Stephen Poskar (https://www.ocdnyc.com), a psychiatrist practicing in New York. Dr. Poskar recently led the International OCD Foundation’s launch of updated treatment guidelines https://iocdf.org/ocd-treatment-guide/. These guidelines explain to the public the frontline, gold standard, and evidence-based treatments for obsessive compulsive disorder, both through medication and other psychopharmacology interventions, as well as appropriate behavioral interventions.

For this Saturday’s presentation, Dr. Stephen Poskar and Chris Trondsen, a licensed therapist specializing in the treatment of OCD and related disorders, will team up to go over those treatment guidelines. Our goal is to have a discussion on what families should expect when first seeking out treatment, what treatment should look like as it progresses and then the final stages of treatment. We will speak based on the guidelines, as well as years of clinical practice.

Our goal for you as an attendee is to get a good solid understanding of what to expect if you or a loved one is first seeking out treatment, is currently in treatment or if you are wrapping up treatment or cutting back on sessions. All participants should have a solid understanding of the frontline treatments for OCD, what to expect in each stage of treatment, and what new research is on the horizon.

For this support group, we want to give you plenty of time to share your story and ask questions. We will be leaving plenty of time for questions and answers so you may ask any personal medication or clinical questions. This group is open to family members, spouses, siblings, parents, and loved ones of someone with OCD, or for clinicians wanting to learn more, or people with OCD and related disorders!

We look forward to seeing you this Saturday. Below is Dr. Stephen Poskar’s bio and then the zoom link to join us this Saturday. We’re excited to see you there!

Dr. Poskar is one of the nation’s leading experts on the treatment of OCD and Related Disorders.  He is a member of the Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board of the International OCD Foundation. He also serves on the faculty of the IOCDF Behavior Therapy Training Institute.  Dr. Poskar co-founded OCD New York, a charity whose mission is to help all those affected by Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Related Disorders to live full and productive lives.

Dr. Poskar is one of the few clinicians in the country with expertise in using both medication and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to treat OCD and Related Disorders.  Patients are commonly referred to Dr. Poskar by their individual therapists so that he may treat them with medication.  In these cases Dr. Poskar works closely with each patient’s therapist because he views this collaborative approach to be essential for the provision of the best possible care.

Dr. Poskar is medically licensed in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Connecticut and Virginia.

If you would like to get the link to this Saturday’s support group, and are already not on our mailing list, please email us at: info@ocdsocal.org and provide all the email addresses you would like the Zoom link emailed to. We look forward to seeing you this Saturday!

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