Published

Free, Virtual Event: An Overview of Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD): Assessment, Diagnosis & Treatment by Chris Trondsen, LMFT!

https://www.ocdnc.org/ocd-lecture-series

OCD Southern California Vice President, Chris Trondsen, LMFT, will guest present for a fellow affiliate’s event: OCD North Carolina’s OCD (and related disorders) Lecture Series. This lecture series is a free, virtual event, and Chris will be the guest on Tuesday, March 17th at 7pm ET.

To sign up for the event to get the Zoom link, please visit: https://www.ocdnc.org/ocd-lecture-series. The lecture will be on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, from 7-8pm ET (4-5pm PT). You’ll receive a Zoom link / reminder in advance of the meeting. To contact OCD North Carolina, please visit: https://www.ocdnc.org/contact-us or you can DM them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ocdnc/

This month’s lecture will feature Chris Trondsen, MS, LMFT, presenting “An Overview of Body Dysmorphic Disorder: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment.” Chris Trondsen, LMFT, is a BDD and OCD specialist, a member of the IOCDF’s BDD Special Interest Group (SIG), has presented at conferences around the world on the topic including the BDD Foundation’s Conference in the UK, and has been featured on podcasts discussing BDD. Additionally, he has BDD himself.

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is an OCD-related disorder where an individual fixates on their appearance, often focused on particular body parts, and feel they look ugly, deformed, and are not deserving of love or affection. They often camouflage their appearance, isolate, withdraw, and seek out cosmetic interventions to fix their perceived appearance “flaws.” Visit: the IOCDF’s BDD website for more information on BDD.

Chris Trondsen’s presentation will focus on how to recognize BDD, how clinicians can diagnose it, what makes BDD unique among other image disorders, the diagnostic criteria one must meet to receive a diagnosis of BDD, the treatment of BDD, and some of his personal experiences with the disorder. It will be followed by a Q&A!

We hope many of you will join or pass it on to anyone who may find information on BDD useful. We will see you there! To sign up for the event to get the Zoom link, please visit: https://www.ocdnc.org/ocd-lecture-series. The lecture will be on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, from 7-8pm ET (4-5pm PT). You’ll receive a Zoom link / reminder in advance of the meeting.

To contact OCD North Carolina, please visit: https://www.ocdnc.org/contact-us or you can DM them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ocdnc/

Published

Register Today for OCD SoCal’s Saturday, May 30th, 10am – 3pm, In-Person Speaker Series!

https://ocdspeakerseries.eventbrite.com

Register Today for OCD SoCal’s Saturday, May 30th, 10am – 3pm, In-Person Speaker Series!

OCD Southern California is happy to announce that registration is now open for the 2026 OCD SoCal Speakers Series!

We are also pleased to announce that we will be offering Continuing Education credit for professionals!

To register for this event, click on: https://ocdspeakerseries.eventbrite.com.

What is new this year is that OCD SoCal is holding one Speakers Series event in one central location at Orange Coast College! We invite everyone in Southern California to join us under one roof!

This low-cost, in-person event will feature presentations by local, Southern California OCD treatment providers. They will facilitate panels and presentations on OCD and related disorders. This will also be an excellent opportunity to meet and connect with others in similar situations as you and your family in the local OCD community.

These events are for 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.

Ticket Prices:

Early Bird Tickets (ends April 12): $10.00

General Admission (ends May 14): $15.00

May 15 – May 30: $18.00

We are pleased that we are able to provide three CE credits for clinicians (LMFT, LPCC, LCSW and psychologists). Please register using the Professional Ticket at a cost of $45.00.

Beverages and a catered lunch will be provided. Parking is free.

More information will be provided soon on the agenda, the program and the speakers on the Speaker Series page on our website: ocdsocal.org/speakerseries

For further information on the Speakers Series, please contact us through email at info@ocdsocal.org.

Once again, we will be hosting one Speaker Series event this year in a central location and invite all of the Southern California OCD community to join us and connect in one location!

To register for this event, click on: https://ocdspeakerseries.eventbrite.com.

Published

Join Us on Saturday, March 14 for our free, virtual Family & Loved Ones OCD Support Group!

OCD Southern California board members Chris Trondsen, LMFT, a clinician with OCD, and his mom, Liz Trondsen, are excited to invite you to our March, virtual, free Family and Loved Ones OCD Support Group. 

It will be held this Saturday, March 14 for two hours, from 11 AM – 1 PM PST.

Brooke Miller will be joining us to discuss her life experience as a person with OCD. Email info@ocdsocal.org to request the Zoom link!

Brooke has lived with OCD since childhood and has experienced multiple subtypes, including contamination, perfectionism, moral scrupulosity, and relationship OCD. Her journey has included ERP treatment, eating disorder recovery, and navigating additional diagnoses like panic disorder, Bipolar II, and PTSD.

She is a parent of two children with OCD, her 13-year-old son (also diagnosed with PANDAS) and her 11-year-old daughter who was recently diagnosed. She speaks from both lived experience and the ongoing reality of parenting kids with OCD.

She is a registered nurse, an International OCD Foundation (IOCDF) Advocate, President of an IOCDF affiliate: OCD Wisconsin, and a presenter with NAMI’s Ending the Silence program.

She will discuss these topics:

– What OCD can actually look like in kids (beyond stereotypes)

– Parenting a child with OCD while also managing your own OCD

– How to support kids through ERP (and manage accommodations vs. support)

– Navigating school, family dynamics, and daily life with OCD

– The emotional impact on parents/caregivers (guilt, fear, burnout)

– Hope and recovery and what progress really looks like

Please join us this Saturday for a wealth of information on both living with OCD and parenting children with OCD! 

We will see you this Saturday, March 14th from 11 AM -1 PM PST!

The event is open to loved ones, family members and spouses of someone with OCD, as well as people with OCD—or anyone else interested. Email info@ocdsocal.org to request the Zoom link!

Published

SAVE THE DATE! The Proposal System will Open on Monday, April 6, to Submit Talks for our November Online OCD Conference!

The Online OCD Conference, A Global Event—hosted by OCD SoCal, is coming BACK this year! Thank you for making last year’s event so successful and demanding its return! SAVE THE DATE because starting Monday, April 6, we are opening the proposal system and accepting proposals for our November 7-8, 2026 conference!

OCD Southern California has been hosting conferences since 2015, and in 2021, OCD SoCal created the Online OCD Conference and transitioned to a virtual platform. This year’s event will be held Saturday and Sunday, November 7-8, 2026.

Our conference has been a cornerstone for global collaboration, bringing together experts, innovators, and thought leaders from around the world.

Whether you’re a seasoned speaker or new to presenting, we invite you to participate in the OCD Online Conference. This globally connected event brings together varied voices from around the world. Our proposal system will officially open on Monday, April 6! We welcome innovative ideas, fresh perspectives, and research that resonates across borders from mental health providers, researchers, individuals with lived experience and their families, and others interested in speaking on OCD and related disorders.

If you would like to speak at this conference, please keep checking our website for more information on how to submit a proposal starting Monday, April 6.

The deadline for proposals is Wednesday, May 20, 2026.

When opened, the Proposal Form will have answers to FAQs. We hope you consider submitting a proposal! 

Here are some stats from our previous conference evaluations that will help you brainstorm potential topics to submit on starting Monday, April 6:

2025 Conference Attendee Information:

Nearly 1400 attendees (N = 1382)

At least 15 countries 

At least 39 US states

Session Information:

53 sessions

  • 1 Keynote
  • 46 Break Outs
  • 5 After Hours
  • 1 Wrap Up Panel

29 CE sessions

Speaker Information: 

112 speakers

Satisfaction:

97.2% of attendees gained something useful (agree or strongly agree)

96.5% of attendees plan to attend future conferences (agree or strongly agree)

Affordability & Accessibility:

Nearly 80% of attendees (79.6%) said that its affordability (low costs/scholarships) influenced decision to attend conference (somewhat, a little, a great deal)

Nearly half of attendees (47.7%) had never attended an OCD conference before (neither in person nor online

What are people asking for more of?

Topics:

OCD Subtypes

Comorbidities (especially trauma, OCPD, ASD)

OCRDs

Identity/culture
Kids

Talks that incorporate:

Accessing treatment & concrete resources

Case Examples/Hands On/Practical Strategies