OCD Southern California is dedicated to providing you with information on free and low-cost events happening virtually or in the Southern California area! We appreciate so many of you for always joining us at these events, being part of our mailing list, and sharing our events with others. If you have not been to an event for OCD yet, we hope one of these three is your first–and we look forward to seeing familiar faces. If you have any questions on these events, please email us at: info@ocdsocal.organd we hope to see you soon!
The International OCD Foundation is hosting their annual Online OCD Conference on Saturday, November 23 – Sunday, November 24, 2024! This event is virtual and for those with OCD, their family members and loved ones, therapists who work with OCD, and anyone else wanted to learn more about the disorder.
The Online OCD Conference offers the opportunity for the global OCD community to connect, share, and learn from each other in this event filled with talks, discussion groups, and networking opportunities.
All the sessions will be available to watch for 60 days following the event and the cost for the entire conference, and the ability to watch all presentations after the event, for $90.
Please join OCD Southern California and the local OCD community on Saturday, December 7, from 1pm to 5pm PST. We are holding a free community event in person at the beautiful Costa Mesa Marriott!
The holiday party will be held in one of the hotel’s banquet rooms and on the outside patio overlooking a beautiful lake. The event is an opportunity for you and your loved ones to meet others in the OCD community, talk, eat and drink, and play fun games, including group trivia and an opportunity drawing!
OCD SoCal will provide refreshments, drinks, prizes and holiday music. It will be an opportunity to mingle and meet others in the community. We will also have a dedicated room for kids that will include fun activities and crafts, so bring them as well!
The event is free, including food, drinks, and parking. Come meet others in the community and enjoy a few hours of holiday fun with people you may already know and new friends as well! This event is hosted by the OCD Southern California Board of Directors. Feel free to share this event with anyone you feel would be interested and bring as many people with you as you’d like to the event!
Our Saturday, December 14th, the virtual, free Family and Loved One’s OCD Support Group will feature author and clinician Jon Hershfield, MFT, author of “When a Family Member Has OCD,” one of the books we often recommend. Mr. Hershfield has written many books for the family and loved ones of someone with the disorder, as well as for people with OCD. Please invite your loved ones to join us for the virtual event. Jon will be available for the Q&A session following his presentation. The support group is 2 hours on Zoom and runs from 11 AM to 1 PM PST. To join, simply email: info@ocdsocal.org (if you are not already on our mailing list), and in the subject line, let us know you are requesting the link for this support group and include any email addresses you would like us to send the Zoom link to in the body paragraph of the email!
About Jon Hershfield, MFT: Jon Hershfield, MFT, is the director of The Center for OCD and Anxiety, Sheppard Pratt’s outpatient treatment center for individuals with obsessive-compulsive and anxiety-related disorders and director of the OCD Program at The Retreat, where Sheppard Pratt offers residential treatment for those who can benefit from a higher level of care. He is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and is a Maryland Approved Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family Therapist Supervisor and AAMFT Approved Supervisor. Jon is also a member of the Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board of the International OCD Foundation and on the faculty of the foundation’s Behavioral Therapy Training Institute.
Jon founded The OCD and Anxiety Center of Greater Baltimore in 2015; the practice joined Sheppard Pratt in 2020. Prior to founding The OCD and Anxiety Center of Greater Baltimore, Jon served as the Associate Director of the UCLA Pediatric OCD Intensive Outpatient Program at Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital and was a psychotherapist at the OCD Center of Los Angeles. He is the author of six books on the treatment of OCD using mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral therapy, is a regularly featured speaker at mental health conferences and webinars and is the curator and moderator of Sheppard Pratt’s OCD and Anxiety Lecture Series.
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We hope to see you at one, or all, of these events. Please feel free to share these events with anyone in your life that would be interested in joining as well. Thank you from OCD SoCal!
You are invited! For any of our members who are attending the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF)’s Annual OCD Conference in Orlando, Florida, which is happening July 25-28, please join us for the annual OCD SoCal meeting at the conference! Meet the OCD SoCal Board of Directors, fellow members, and have your opinions heard! Find out what is coming up for the affiliate in 2025 and share your ideas! The meeting is also in the conference program.
OCD SoCal General Interest Meeting Friday, July 26, 12:45 pm – 2:15 pm ET Silver Spring Room
If you are not signed up for the conference, there is still time. This year the conference is also offering a virtual option. For more information, see below:
29th Annual OCD Conference July 25–28, 2024 | Hyatt Regency Orlando For all those impacted by OCD and related disorders, mental health professionals, and researchers.
The Annual OCD Conference is the largest national event focused solely on obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders. This extraordinary event brings together individuals with OCD, their loved ones, and mental health professionals under the same roof with the goal of educating attendees about the latest treatments, research, and practice in OCD and related disorders.
OCD Southern California is happy to announce the return of the Speakers Series this April 2024! These low-cost ($15 per person), 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. Note: The San Diego, Inland Empire, and Los Angeles Speaker Series are now sold out. The Orange County location has limited capacity and is close to filling up as well. If you are interested, please register as soon as possible!
We are providing 3 CE credits to clinicians at the Orange County location. We welcome OCD therapists as well as non-OCD clinicians who would like to learn about OCD treatment. The cost to attend for CE credits is $45.00. CE credits are for continuing education activities for clinicians; these are not for the general public.
Note: Each location has its own unique Eventbrite sign-up page. For each venue’s specific registration link, see below.
These events are open to individuals with OCD, their family members and loved ones, mental health providers, students, and the general public. Please join us at your local event, or feel free to attend all four!
Email us with any questions at info@ocdsocal.org. OCD SoCal does not want registration costs to prevent you or your family from attending. Please email us and ask us for a scholarship, which will waive registration costs.
The Orange County Speaker Series is being held on Saturday, April 6, 2024 from 10am – 3pm PST. Check-in for the event will open at 9:15am. Coffee and tea will be served. We suggest you arrive early for check-in and then the event will begin promptly at 10am. If you have not registered for the event, there are still low-cost tickets available. Your registration includes a catered meal, beverages, and free parking. For more information and to register, visit: OCD SoCal Speaker Series – Orange County Tickets via EventBrite
Here is a list with details of the break-out sessions being offered:
Registration: 9:15amPST
The check-in desk is located near the entrance of the hotel, to the right when you enter, in front of the Ballroom. You do not need to bring your EventBrite ticket; we have the names of everyone who registered and will check you in at the check-in table.
Introduction and Welcome: 10 – 10:15amPST
OCD Southern California board members Chris Trondsen, LMFT, APCC, Liz Trondsen, Barbara Van Noppen, Ph.D., LCSW, and Sue Chudy, LCSW, (http://ocdsocal.org/about-us/board-of-directors/) will welcome attendees, go over the day’s events, and announce additional important information. Then the event’s presentations will begin.
The event is offering 9 total presentations with a final 10th presentation featuring all of the day’s speakers for an “Ask the Expert” Q&A Panel. If you scroll below, you will notice that the day is split into 4 sessions. During the first 3 sessions there are three talks being offered simultaneously and you can pick which one you would like to attend. Then the Q&A panel is for everyone in attendance. Following the “Ask the Expert” Q&A Panel, OCD SoCal is excited to present a special screening of the movie “Exposure,” a psychological thriller by director Peter Cannon, who has OCD himself.
New this year, we are offering 3 continuing education credits (CEs) for licensed clinicians. These talks, specifically for mental health providers, will be held in the venue’s boardroom and will be held at the same time as the talks for the general public.
This presentation is for family members and loved ones supporting someone with an OCD diagnosis. Often individuals with OCD do not accept their diagnosis, are refusing treatment, and get angry when approached on the topic. If they are in treatment, they may not be putting their all into the therapy. This presentation aims to help family members and loved ones gain an understanding as to what their loved one is going through and what may be causing this resistance. The talk will then provide tangible interventions and tools on how to deal with treatment resistance, approach your loved one, and create engagement in the recovery process. Attendees will leave with an understanding of OCD, its treatment, how to approach a loved one about attending treatment, and how to motivate them once in therapy.
OCD is often depicted as excessive handwashing and door-checking or careful steps over sidewalk cracks. Given this, it’s no surprise that so many people remain completely unaware of mental compulsions. While these internal behaviors are invisible, they are every bit as debilitating as their overt counterparts. So how can we spot them? And, once we do, how can we handle them? In this talk, attendees will learn about mental compulsions: what they are, how they differ from obsessions, how to identify them and ways to support disengaging from them. The talk will also cover non-engagement responses, and the difference between dropping mental compulsions and thought stopping.
Although OCD is a debilitating disorder, the treatment is proven to be effective and the majority of people recover, living fulfilling lives. While Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and in particular, Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) are becoming more well known beyond academia and select clinicians, its application to the treatment of OCD is not always well explained or understood by those seeking treatment. Therefore, the treatment can be misunderstood, causing resistance in therapy. In this session, ERP will be examined and explained in the broader context of CBT and how it works to change the lives of those with OCD. Attendees will learn how to effectively utilize ERP to reduce OCD symptoms and begin to experience freedom!
Family accommodation predicts poorer therapeutic outcomes and is associated with greater OCD impairment. This presentation will explain accommodation behaviors through the lens of functional behavioral analysis. Specific types of family accommodation in OCD will be identified along with validated measures. We will then discuss methods of accommodation reduction that can be used for child through adult populations including common language, family contracts, and motivational scripts. Video will be used to demonstrate behavioral family contracting. We will end with a discussion of child methodologies including the Supportive Parenting for Anxious Emotions program (SPACE) and token economies.
During this presentation, the speakers will discuss how to apply Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for meaningful treatment of OCD. This modality provides a parallel, yet nuanced approach to other forms of OCD therapy. The presenters will provide an in-depth explanation of the ACT Hexaflex and explain how to practically implement ACT throughout daily life. This presentation will also address how to use values (vs fear) to help guide meaningful treatment, as well as mindfulness, acceptance, and committing to decisions as helpful techniques.
OCD rarely occurs in perfect isolation. OCD often shows up before, during, or after other co-occurring disorders such as an eating disorder, social anxiety, specific phobias, generalized anxiety, or depression. OCD may also arise in the context of other developmental disorders such as ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorders. This all sounds very messy…much like real life! The good news, is that we can conceptualize these problems within the same general framework and we can reply on the same set of treatment principles to find freedom from all of the above! Exposure therapy, as well as other aspects of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), will be the central methods of intervention discussed as we explore how to understand and treat OCD alongside other co-occurring disorders.
In an effort to cope with challenging situations, families often engage in behaviors that perpetuate OCD and interfere with treatment. Family responses to OCD, particularly family accommodation, worsens OCD symptoms, leaving family members and individuals with OCD feeling frustrated, angry and at odds with one another. This presentation will cover what might drive accommodating behaviors, introduce behavioral contracting and the addition of motivational strategies. Family-based intervention that brings family members into the therapeutic process of exposure and response prevention is for people with OCD at all ages. Hopeful, additional elements from The Supportive Parenting for Anxious Emotions program (SPACE) will be described as well. This interactive workshop is for people with OCD, their family members, and loved ones.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating mental health condition that affects 2.3% of the US population. The disorder is characterized by obsessive and intrusive thoughts, images, and urges that are unwanted and jarring. Sufferers are then compelled to engage in both mental and physical rituals as a way to prevent a feared outcome or to reduce anxious emotions. This presentation will give an overview of how to assess for OCD, and educate a client on the condition, through both discussion and role-plays. The talk will then shift to an overview and role-played presentation on exposure and response prevention (ERP), the gold-standard, front line treatment for the condition. The presentation will conclude with a Q&A.
This presentation will review evidence-based medication treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We will discuss which medications are effective for OCD and which ones are not, the doses and duration of treatment required for effective pharmacotherapy of OCD, and myths and misconceptions about psychiatric medications. We will cover serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) – the first-line medications for OCD, as well as secondary and augmentation strategies for patients who do not have adequate response to SRIs. We will also discuss other related topics, including comorbidity, assessment, treatment planning, predictors of treatment response, practice guidelines, multimodal treatment combining pharmacotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), intensive treatment, neuromodulatory approaches, mechanisms of action of pharmacotherapy, and the neurobiology of treatment response in OCD.
Tackling Taboo Topics and Silencing Shame – Kevin Foss, MFT https://calocd.com
The more we try to suppress taboo obsessions the more we have them, and the more guilty and shameful we can feel. No matter how normal it may be to have thoughts of sex, violence, and blasphemy, OCD can twist the message that you are alone and worse off than everyone else. But, there is hope. This talk will bring light and air to the thoughts, images, and topics we aren’t supposed to talk about in “polite society.” We will discuss how these obsessions manifest, how to change perspectives on their meaning through treatment, and how to find freedom and peace from shame through self compassion.
An OCD diagnosis doesn’t just affect the person with the disorder; instead, it seeps into all facets of life, including romantic relationships, friendships, and familial relationships. The closer the relationship, the higher the likelihood that the sufferer will experience interpersonal anxiety and symptoms that complicate, dictate, and, all too often, destroy the quality of social bonds. This presentation will identify the ways OCD shows up in relational contexts, including dating, friendships, and the parent / child and sibling / child relationship. The talk will clarify the role and responsibilities of the sufferer and their loved ones in healing affected dynamics. It will conclude by offering a roadmap for healthier, non-compulsive interactions. The presentation will conclude with a Q&A session.
The benchmark treatment for OCD is generally accepted to be cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and specifically exposure and response prevention (ERP) (Koran & Simpson, 2013, American Psychiatric Association, 2010). Its usage is well documented (Law & Boisseau, 2019), yet its application across clinicians varies significantly based on previous training, experience, and ability. In this workshop, specific skillsets relating to ERP and its application to OCD will be introduced and discussed, focusing on its application in the context of CBT. Additionally, common mistakes and issues in its application will be discussed, followed by a case example, and finally an open Q&A session.
Lunch: 1:45pmPST
The Costa Mesa Marriott is providing a catered lunch and beverages. There will be different food options to choose from; you will select your preferred option at check-in. The lunches are provided in a portable dinnerware, we ask you to bring your food into the main Ballroom as we begin the final session presentation.
Session IV: 2 – 3:00pmPST
Ask The Experts: Summary Q&A Panel – All of the event’s presenters
Please join us for an opportunity to ask questions of a panel consisting of all of the event’s presenters. This is an opportunity to ask any of the questions you were unable to ask during the day, or if you were unable to attend one of the presentaitons, that talk’s presenters will be able to answer your questions at this panel. The panel will consist of leading OCD experts.
We will begin the screening of the film, “Exposure” (https://www.discomfortsthepoint.com) with an introduction by the film’s director, Peter Cannon. Then we will show the movie and follow the film with a Q&A with Peter, led by OCD Southern California’s Vice President Chris Trondsen, LMFT. The film will be viewed in the venue’s Ballroom and is free for anyone who registered for the Orange County Speakers Series. Here is a description of the film:
Years ago, Tanner (Douglas Smith; Don’t Worry Darling, Big Little Lies, Big Love) was kidnapped, tortured, and poisoned by an unknown assailant. After being inexplicably let go, he was left obsessed with the idea that his kidnapper was still out to get him. Day in and day out, his compulsive checking to confirm that his house is secure and his food is safe to eat slowly erodes his relationship with his patient and caring wife, Nicole (Margo Harshman; NCIS, The Big Bang Theory, Even Stevens).
One day, Nicole hears that the man who did this to Tanner was released from prison earlier than expected, and Tanner’s obsession spirals out of control. To save her marriage, Nicole forces him to face his fears head-on with exposure therapy, and ultimately confront the fact that he’s experiencing obsessive compulsive disorder. Reluctant at first, he takes to it well—and perhaps to a dangerous level.
Event Concludes: 6:00pmPST
On your way out, please make sure to sign up for OCD Southern California’s mailing list, as well as visiting the front desk of the hotel to have your parking ticket validated. Parking for the event is covered by OCD SoCal.
