Every second Saturday of the month Chris Trondsen, LMFT, and Liz Trondsen host a virtual, free, Family & Loved Ones OCD Support Group.

As the new year begins, everyone is putting together their 2026 New Year’s resolutions with the goal of improving their lives. We want to help you make changes in the new year that will support your OCD journey, by finding ways to deal with the stress, anxiety, and depression that comes with having the disorder.

At January’s Family & Loved One’s OCD Support Group, held on Saturday, January 10^th, from 11am to 2pm PST(note the extra hour added for Q&A!), we are bringing together five experts who will focus on ways one can improve their lifestyle to support mental wellness. To receive the free link for this event, simple email info@ocdsocal.org and request the event’s Zoom link!

The event is open to people with OCD, along with their loved ones, family, members, and spouses—or anyone else interested. The person with OCD can find tangible ways to improve their lifestyle and support their OCD treatment. As loved ones, this valuable information will give you ways to support a loved one with OCD in making these life improvements.

This event is titled, “Improving Lifestyle Factors to Aid in OCD Recovery: Incorporating Exercise, Sleep, Diet, Mindfulness, Spirituality & Other Stress Relieving Measures for Recovery!” It will be held during our monthly Family & Loved One’s Support Group and the information shared is important for both the person with OCD and those who support them.

January 10^th’s presentation will focus on how to reduce stress and improve mental health through improving sleep, finding a beneficial diet, utilizing exercise and movement for stress reduction, incorporating mindfulness and yoga to aid with being grounded, and how to find ways to add faith or spirituality into your life for additional support. Other lifestyle factors will be discussed including the impact of alcohol and drugs, creating a social circle, the importance of daily structure, why being in nature is important, how humor improves mood, and more!

If you are new to this presentation, we hope this information will be valuable in supporting your OCD treatment, and if you have seen our previous presentations, join us again. We have added an additional speaker, and all of the presenters have updated their slides with current information on their topic.

The presenters are Chris Trondsen, LMFT, a licensed therapist who lives with two sleep disorders and has additional training in sleep disorders and sleep improvement.  Liz Trondsen, RD, is a registered dietitian who focuses on the correlation between the mind and gut connection and diet’s role in OCD and anxiety. Krista Reed, LSCSW, is a licensed therapist with a focus on how mindfulness improves mental health and is a certified child’s yoga instructor. She will speak on how to incorporate meditation, mindfulness, and yoga in one’s life and their benefits. Tom Smalley, MS, CMPC, CSCS, is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant, a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, and has won 3 gold medals in weightlifting. Lastly, Rev. Katie O’Dunne is an ordained minister. She is an interfaith chaplain who will focus on how to incorporate spirituality and the faith of one’s choosing as additional support and comfort.

These five will present on the above topics to give the person with OCD a set of tools to support their OCD journey by improving their overall health and wellness.  We will finish with a Q&A.

Read more about the presenters below and we will see you Saturday, January 10, from 11 to 2pm PST, for the 3-hour event! To receive the direct, free, Zoom link for this event, simple email info@ocdsocal.org and request the event’s Zoom link!

Rev. Dr. Katie O’Dunne founded and leads an inclusive virtual community for those navigating faith and OCD called Stick with the Ick. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, she spent 7 years as the Academy Chaplain and Chair of Religious Studies at Woodward Academy in Atlanta, simultaneously consulting on interfaith programming nationwide. Drawing on this experience, Katie educates clinicians and clergy, promoting culturally responsive treatment across religious/spiritual traditions. She leads the IOCDF Faith & OCD Action Council, consults on Religion & OCD with OCDI Texas, and received Vanderbilt’s Doctor of Ministry Award for Distinction in Integrative Care Practices.

Website: Stick with the Ick | Katie O’Dunne

Tom Smalley’s journey into his work is rooted in both personal experience and professional training. As an individual who navigated challenges like OCD and ADHD, he developed a deep appreciation for the role that focus, self-awareness, and psychological flexibility play in performance.  Today, he  helps high performers build their mental edge through research-backed mental skills training. That includes tools like focus strategies, values-based goal setting, emotional regulation, and confidence development, all designed to help a person show up with intention and consistency under pressure. Struggle into Strength exists to help clients take ownership of their mindset, manage pressure more effectively, and perform with clarity and intention. Not just in performance, but in life as well.

Website: Struggle Into Strength | Mental Performance Coaching

Since 2005, Krista Reed has been practicing in the field of social work. She graduated in 2005 from Kansas State University and 2008 from Newman University. Krista is passionate about working with patients who have Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders. She is a graduate of The TLC Foundation of BFRBs Professional Training Institute, the Pediatric BTTI training by the IOCDF, an IOCDF advocate, Vice President of OCD Kansas and leader of the IOCDF Special Interest Group Moms with OCD.

Website: OCD & ANXIETY THERAPY

Chris Trondsen suffered with severe OCD and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) until receiving specialized treatment. No longer under the control of the disorders, Chris is now a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) at the Gateway Institute in Costa Mesa.  He received his bachelor’s degree in human development and psychology from California State University, Long Beach. Additionally, Chris earned a Master of Science (M.S.) Degree in Counseling at California State University, Fullerton.  Chris is on the Board of Directors for the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF), as well as in leadership for four of their special interest groups (SIG) including the BDD SIG, Trauma & Grief SIG, and others. He also currently serves as the Vice President of the IOCDF’s Southern California Affiliate (OCD Southern California – OCD So Cal), leading efforts in OCD awareness and education in the local community. Chris is a national speaker on OCD and was the keynote speaker at the International OCD Foundation’s yearly conference in 2011. He continues to be a regular presenter at the IOCDF’s annual conferences. At the annual conference, Chris helped create the Young Adult Track, which is now an essential part of the conference’s program.

Website: Chris Trondsen: LMFT & OCD Specialist – The Gateway Institute

Liz Trondsen is the mother of a son with mental illness. When her son, Chris, was diagnosed at age twenty, she was able to locate a treatment center in Los Angeles where he received excellent cognitive behavioral therapy. From a young man consumed with obsessions and compulsions, Liz watched her son regain his life, graduate college, and now work to help others fight this disorder. Liz helps to facilitate a Family Support Group online that brings families and people with OCD together to provide support, suggestions and hope to one another. Liz graduated from CSULB with a bachelor’s in science in Dietetics and Food Administration and completed her dietetic internship in Detroit, Michigan.  Liz spent her career working in hospitals, as a Food Service Director and a Clinical Nutrition Manager.  Since retiring in 2024, Liz has focused her interests on nutrition and mental health.  With the others on this panel, she has presented twice at the IOCDF conference and presents an update annually to the Family and Loved One’s OCD Support Group. 

Website: https://ocdsocal.org/about-us/board-of-directors/