https://ocdspeakerseries.eventbrite.com
The full program is now available! Scroll down to see the titles and full descriptions of each of the 13 presentations being offered at the OCD Southern California Speaker Series conference. The event is being held on Saturday, May 30, 2026 from 10am – 3pm PT. Check-in for the event will open at 9:30am. 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: https://ocdspeakerseries.eventbrite.com.
There are 23 presenters for the event. To read each speaker’s bio, please visit: https://ocdsocal.org/4914/meet-the-23-presenters-speaking-on-saturday-may-30th-at-our-in-person-ocd-socal-speaker-series/
Here is the full program for the event that includes a rundown of the day’s events, titles and descriptions for the presentations, and details of the break-out sessions being offered:
Registration: 9:30am PT
The event will be at Orange Coast College located at 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa, CA, 92626. Please park in parking lots C, D and E, which are adjacent to the College Center Building. This is the building where the event is being held.
Introduction and Welcome: 10 – 10:15am PT
The event is offering 12 total presentations with a final 13th 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 four 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.
Again this year, we are offering 3 continuing education credits (CEs) for licensed clinicians (LMFTs, LPCCs, LCSWs, and psychologists). These talks, specifically for mental health providers, will be held in the venue’s ballroom and will be held at the same time as the talks for the general public. NOTE: Pre-licensed trainees, students, and other mental health providers in the field are welcome to attend the CE talks. However, we are not able to offer CE’s to those attendees. Therefore, you can register as a general attendee. We thank USC for sponsoring the CEs!
Session I: 10:15 – 11:15am PT
Family Matters: How to Team Up Against OCD – Barbara Van Noppen, PhD, LCSW Barbara Van Noppen, PhD – Keck School of Medicine of USC and Stephanie Davis, PhD Dr. Davis Therapy | OCD Therapist | Orange County, CA, USA
OCD affects the entire family, which is why a family-focused approach to treatment can be so valuable. In this presentation, we will explore how you can work together to support your loved one with OCD. A key concept, “Family Accommodation” and how it creeps into all significant relationships as a benevolent attempt to “help” the person with OCD will be defined. This will be followed by how families can participate in exposure, as well as how to respond in a supportive (yet non-accommodating) way to requests for reassurance or help with compulsions. Then, how to make OCD family contracts that outline each family member’s role in teaming up against OCD will be reviewed. Lastly, building motivation to stay firm when facing your loved one’s OCD-related fear, anger, or feelings of abandonment will be included as an important area of maintaining progress.
Dispelling Myths: What Effective CBT / ERP for OCD SHOULD Look Like & the 8 Most Common Reasons It May Fail! – Chris Trondsen, LMFT Chris Trondsen: LMFT & OCD Specialist – The Gateway Institute and Curtis Hsia, PhD OC Anxiety Center
A scan through the Psychology Today listings would show that everyone specializes in everything, inclusive of OCD; the same is often found when given a list of providers from an insurance company. This session will focus on what treatment for OCD should entail, what questions to ask when seeking a provider and reasons why it may not work.
Stuck at Night: OCD, Anxiety, and Sleep – Sue Chudy, LCSW Chudy Counseling Services and Khashayar Nattagh, MD Khashayar Nattagh MD
Sleep can be one of the most challenging parts of living with OCD and anxiety, especially when intrusive thoughts and mental rituals intensify at night. In this talk, a therapist and psychiatrist will explore the powerful connection between sleep, anxiety, and OCD, and why efforts to control sleep often make it harder to rest. We’ll break down common nighttime patterns like rumination, checking, and reassurance seeking, and offer a more effective, compassionate approach. Drawing from evidence-based strategies and clinical insight, you’ll learn how to respond differently to intrusive thoughts and reduce the struggle around sleep. Attendees will leave with practical tools and a renewed sense of hope that better nights are possible, even without perfect sleep.
Holy Smokes! Tackling Religious and Moral Scrupulosity – Kevin Foss, MFT About Kevin Foss • California OCD And Anxiety Treatment Center and Mary Sponaugle Neustaedter, LMFT Mary (Sponaugle) Neustaedter, MFT – OCD Center of Los Angeles
When trying to be a good person and working hard to be a better follower of your faith becomes all encompassing, problematic, and never ending, you might be experiencing Scrupulosity OCD. This Obsessive Compulsive Disorder subtype focuses on one’s moral and religious character and continuously searches for personal failings and shortcomings, and what you should do to fix those perceived problems. This presentation will discuss Scrupulosity OCD within the framework of OCD, highlight the common religious and moral components, and review tangible tools rooted in CBT, ERP, and ACT, to take a hold of these obsessions and live in a meaningful and sustainable way.
[CE Talk for Licensed Clinicians]
Consulting with Families of Treatment-Refusers: An Underutilized Therapeutic Option – Alec Pollard, PhD Pollard, Alec | International OCD Foundation
A substantial portion of individuals with OCD either deny they have a problem, acknowledge the problem but fail to seek help, or seek help but never seem to benefit. Family and friends struggle to understand why, especially when the OCD negatively impacts their lives. They often wrongfully conclude the OCD sufferer is willfully choosing to be impaired, which can lead them to react in ways that are counterproductive. In this presentation, I will introduce a concept called “recovery avoidance.” I will explain why the natural family response to recovery avoidance doesn’t work and often makes things worse, landing everyone involved into what my colleagues and I have called the “family trap.” I will describe how family members confronted with recovery avoidance can enhance their emotional well- being and, at the same, improve the quality of their interactions with the recovery avoider.
Session II: 11:30 – 12:30pm PT
When an Impaired Loved One Doesn’t Pursue Recovery: The Family Well-Being Approach – Alec Pollard, PhD Pollard, Alec | International OCD Foundation
Treatment-refusal is a significant healthcare problem. Untreated psychiatric disorders like OCD often lead to a lifetime of distress and disability, and not just for the diagnosed individual. Impairment in one person can jeopardize the physical health, psychological well-being, and socioeconomic stability of the entire family. For most people, hope rests on the promise of getting help, but even evidence-based treatment can’t help someone who never receives it. When families reach out to healthcare professionals, they are told nothing can be done. In this seminar, I will describe something that can be done, an intervention called Family Well-Being Consultation (FWBC), the result of 3 decades of clinical development and research. FWBC uses established cognitive and behavioral principles and focuses on the well-being of the entire family. Families are taught how to shape recovery-compatible behavior in the treatment-refuser and how to reduce conflict and stress within the family. The seminar will include lecture, slides, and demonstration of technique.
People with OCD Want to Have Sex, Too! Let’s Talk Dating, Love & Intimacy – Chris Trondsen, LMFT Chris Trondsen: LMFT & OCD Specialist – The Gateway Institute and Sheva Rajaee, MFT The Center for Anxiety and OCD | Find Anxiety Relief
This presentation explores how to cultivate a fulfilling, values-aligned sex life even when anxiety or OCD is present. Sexual well-being is reframed beyond performance, certainty, or symptom elimination, emphasizing pleasure, imperfection, and flexibility. Physiological reasons anxiety and intrusive thoughts interfere with desire and intimacy through hypervigilance, avoidance, rumination, and perfectionism will be explored, as well as how to address those patterns without reinforcing compulsive control or reassurance-seeking. Offering perspectives from the fields of sex therapy, human development, and psychiatry, grounded in principles fundamental to evidence-based anxiety and OCD treatment, including ERP, ACT, and DBT, an expert panel will offer practical, sex-positive strategies for tolerating uncertainty, reconnecting with the body, and engaging in meaningful intimacy across diverse identities and relationship structures.
ERP Through an ACT Lens – Stephanie Davis, Ph.D. https://www.drdavistherapy.com/ and Lauren Rosen, LMFT Home – The Center for the Obsessive Mind
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is one of the most effective treatments for OCD—but it can be really challenging. Have you ever wondered if there’s a way to make ERP more meaningful and more connected to what matters most to you? In this presentation, we’ll explore how ideas from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can help you get more out of ERP. We’ll talk about why trying to get rid of uncomfortable thoughts and feelings—experiential avoidance—often backfires, and how learning to make space for them—experiential acceptance—can stop them from controlling you and hijacking your life. We’ll also highlight how ACT’s mindfulness component is uniquely suited to support individuals struggling with mental compulsions and how connecting with your values can turn exposures from something you “have to do” into something you want to do.
Medication Management in OCD – – Jennifer Siegel, MD Jennifer Siegel Psychiatry | Discover Personalized Mental Health Solutions and Sanjaya Saxena, MD Saxena, Sanjaya | International OCD Foundation
This talk will provide an accessible overview of medication management for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), geared toward individuals with OCD, family members, loved ones, and anyone interested in learning more. We will review evidence-based guidelines for medication treatment, discuss what to consider when first-line medications are not effective, and explore common challenges and fears surrounding psychiatric medications. The presentation will also cover practical strategies to support treatment success and help individuals make informed decisions about their care.
[CE Talk for Licensed Clinicians]
Treating OCD: Assessment to Maintenance – Curtis Hsia, PhD OC Anxiety Center
The need to treat OCD using empirically supported approaches remains a dire need as many providers often use approaches that are not research based. This continuing education session will give an overview of the treatment of OCD with a focus on cognitive countering and exposure and response prevention, followed by a case presentation and Q&A.
Lunch: 12:30pm PT
Orange Coast College 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 portable dinnerware. We ask you to bring your food into the room of the presentation you are choosing to watch during session three.
Session III: 12:45 – 1:45pm PT
Supportive Parenting in OCD: How to Stand Up to OCD While Holding onto Your Relationship with Your Child / Teen – Jennifer O’Connor, PhD Dr. Jennifer O’Connor – PhD psychologist specializing in OCD, anxiety & eating disorders and Elena Fasan, MSW, LCSW Meet Elena Fasan – Children’s OCD & Anxiety Collective
Parents are the most powerful resource for children and teens with OCD during their recovery process, but it can be very difficult to stand up to OCD’s demands while still holding onto a strong relationship with your child or teen. The presenters will explore common reasons why parents and other caregivers struggle with reducing accommodations and supporting at home exposures, even when the importance of taking these steps is well understood. A clear formula for supportive parenting will be offered, along with an opportunity to practice supportive communication through role playing. Attendees will leave with a greater understanding of how to reduce OCD’s presence in their children’s lives and boost their confidence in their ability to cope with distress, all while maintaining a strong emotional connection with them.
Treating Intrusive and Taboo Thoughts in OCD: Getting Unstuck by Targeting Mental Compulsions & Rumination – Chris Trondsen, LMFT Chris Trondsen: LMFT & OCD Specialist – The Gateway Institute and Max Maisel, Ph.D. https://beachfrontanxiety.com/max-maisel-phd
This talk will cover the benefits of mindfulness for intrusive thoughts, misuses / contraindications of mindfulness, differentiating an intrusive thought from rumination / mental compulsion, and beliefs that drive rumination / mental compulsion and how to identify and challenge them.
We will also explain the difference between attention, awareness, and distraction and address “but what if my intrusive thought is real” or “what if I really am a XYZ?”
Finally, we will discuss using ACT’s cognitive defusion for intrusive thoughts, playing the “…and then” game to show the ridiculousness of intrusive thoughts, using humor in therapy to help take intrusive thoughts less seriously, and give examples of ERP for taboo intrusive thoughts.
Maximizing Your Insurance Benefits to Cover OCD Treatment – Michelle Malloy, MFT, PMH-C OC-Therapy and Megan Alberoni, MA, BCBA
Both federal and California state law says insurance companies must offer patients with OCD coverage for seeing a therapist that specializes in OCD. If there are no OCD providers in-network with an insurance plan, patients have the right to have specialist care covered under their in-network benefits. We will educate you on your rights, navigating insurance, and communicating effectively to maximize your reimbursement. In addition, a consumer will share her experience with this process. Learn how to advocate for patient rights in order to expand affordability and access to the best available OCD treatment.
More Than OCD: Real Stories of Recovery and Living Fully – Jennie Kuckertz, PhD – Jennie M. Kuckertz, PhD | McLean Hospital, Cathy Agostino, Dylan Mitchell, Gur Yilmaz, and Jarret Lovell.
OCD can be incredibly isolating, and even as awareness has grown, many people still feel misunderstood or fear that recovery is out of reach. Social media and popular culture can sometimes make OCD seem like a life sentence rather than something people can meaningfully recover from – but that is simply not true. In this panel discussion, four individuals will share their personal stories of recovery, what helped them move forward, and what life looks like outside of OCD. Hearing directly from people who have lived through OCD and found a fuller, freer life can be powerful, validating, and hopeful. Whether you are struggling with OCD yourself, supporting a loved one, or working as a clinician, we invite you to join us. The session will include personal stories from each panelist, a moderated discussion about recovery and healing, and an audience Q&A.
[CE Talk for Licensed Clinicians]
Evidence-Based Medication Management in OCD – Sanjaya Saxena, MD Saxena, Sanjaya | International OCD Foundation
This presentation will review the assessment and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We will focus most on pharmacotherapy (medication treatment) for OCD but will also cover other related topics, including comorbidity, standardized ratings, treatment planning, predictors of treatment response, practice guidelines, strategies for treatment-refractory patients, neurosurgical approaches, mechanisms of action of pharmacotherapy, and the neurobiology of treatment response in OCD.
Session IV: 2 – 3:00pm PT
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 and will be held in the ballroom.
Opportunity Drawing
Additionally, for those still in attendance at the end of our OCD Southern California Speaker Series conference event, we will be hosting an opportunity drawing for an opportunity to win gift card prizes! The ticket to win is already included with your registration at no additional cost!
Event Concludes: 3:00pm PT
On your way out, please make sure to sign up for OCD Southern California’s mailing list, our free and virtual Family and Loved One’s OCD Support Group, and complete a quick evaluation of the event.
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We look forward to seeing everyone at the Speaker Series event. Make sure to register before the event is sold out! For more information and to register for the event, click here: https://ocdspeakerseries.eventbrite.com.
A reminder, OCD Southern California is offering 3 CEs for LCSW, LMFT, LPCC, and Psychologists who attend the CE track of this event!