Posts Tagged with ocd support group

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Join Us Sunday, December 21st at 9am PST for the talk ‘Rise Beyond OCD: Answers, Insight and Inspiration to Move Forward!’

OCD Southern California is excited to invite you to join OCD SoCal board members Chris Trondsen, LMFT, and his mom, Liz Trondsen as they join Shannon Shy as the next guests in his series, “90 Minutes with the Icons of the OCD Recovery Community!”

The event is Sunday, December 21st, 2025, starting at 9am PST (12 noon ET) and is 90 minutes long, ending at 10:30am PST (1:30pm ET).

Once a month, Shannon Shy, the 2010 Keynote speaker for the IOCDF’s annual OCD conference, brings on leading experts, as well as people from the OCD community, to share their stories, provide hope, and answer questions.

This Sunday, December 21st, Chris and Liz Trondsen will be his guests and share their talk titled, “Rise Beyond OCD: Answers, Insight, and Inspiration to Move Forward!” Email us at info@ocdsocal.org and request the free Zoom link!

Here’s some additional information on this Sunday’s free, virtual presentation:

Title: Rise Beyond OCD: Answers, Insight, & Inspiration to Move Forward – A part of Shannon Shy’s ’90 Minutes with the Icons of the OCD Recovery Community.’

Guests: Chris Trondsen, LMFT & Liz Trondsen. Read Chris and Liz’s Bios Here

Day & Time: Sunday, December 21, 2025 at 9 AM PST (12 PM EST) for 90 minutes.

Event Description: Chris Trondsen and his mother Liz stepped into the international spotlight of OCD recovery when they jointly gave the keynote address at the 2011 International OCD Foundation (IOCDF) conference.

Chris suffered severely for many years with OCD (he also suffered with Body Dysmorphic Disorder, anxiety, depression and panic attacks) and eventually found treatment and his path to recovery aided by the loving support of Liz and the family.

Chris is now a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) treating OCD and related disorders at The Gateway Institute in Southern California, sits on the Board of Directors for the IOCDF and OCD SoCal, and has become one of the most well-known voices of OCD recovery.

Liz also sits on the OCD SoCal Board of Directors and facilitates the OCD Support Group for Families and Loved Ones.

We hope you join Shannon, Chris and Liz for 90 minutes to listen to a talk of hope, recovery tips, and tangible action items to support your recovery journey!

Their presentation if followed by a Q&A session. Email us at info@ocdsocal.org and request the free Zoom link!

About the event’s host: Shannon Shy – Certified Peer Recovery Specialist

Shannon is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist and an attorney who retired from the United States Marine Corps Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2007 and from federal civil service with the Department of the Navy in 2022 after thirty years of total service. Diagnosed with a severe case of OCD in 1997 while on active duty, he underwent treatment and developed his own strategy to successfully overcome OCD. Shannon was the Keynote Speaker at the 2010 Annual IOCDF Conference and served on the IOCDF Board of Directors from 2011 – 2018, when he resigned his position as President to go serve in Afghanistan.

He has written three books on overcoming OCD, operated a Facebook page about OCD recovery, produced an online course about his peer support methodology and has successfully provided peer support to OCD sufferers since 2016 worldwide.

In 2016, the State of Virginia certified him as a Peer Recovery Specialist. He has successfully worked with hundreds of clients around the world. His Turning Points Method to OCD Recovery members site contains a wealth of resources created by him to aid people in recovery.



Shannon Shy’s Unconditional Commitment Club
www.ocdrecoveryturningpoints.com

Join Shannon Shy every month for a 90-minute interview and audience Q&A session with the icons of the OCD Recovery Community!

For upcoming guests, visit Shannon’s website.

We look forward to having you join us this Sunday, December 21st at 9am PST for 90 minutes! Make sure to email info@ocdsocal.org for the event’s Zoom link!

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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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Family and Loved One’s OCD Support Group (Virtually) on Saturday, March 8 from 11am to 1pm PT!

The Mitchell Family (Dylan, Dewayne, and Jamie) – March’s support group’s special guests

Join us this Saturday, March 8th, from 11 am to 1 pm PT (Pacific Time) for our free, virtual Family and Loved One’s OCD Support Group! It is facilitated by Chris Trondsen, LMFT, a licensed therapist who overcame OCD, along with his mom, Liz Trondsen. To join, email info@ocdsocal.org and ask for the support group Zoom link to be sent! Anyone from anywhere can join!

We are excited to welcome the Mitchell family as our special guests for March’s support group. We know how important it is for you to find hope by hearing that people with OCD get better and live full and fulfilling lives. Also, hearing from parents and loved ones on what they did to support the person in their life with OCD to better ensure they recover from the disorder is important. Dylan, who has OCD, and his parents, Dewayne and Jamie, are excited to share Dylan’s recovery journey.

For Dylan, it all started in the senior year of his college career. Dylan started to struggle, and at the end of college, he was beginning to have a rough time. He noticed something was off when he returned home. In retrospect, his mom, Jamie, says he has had OCD his whole life, but Dylan never really noticed the symptoms until he got older.

It was not until college that he received an OCD diagnosis. He began treatment at The Gateway Institute, where he started getting support from the center’s founder and then began therapy with Chris Trondsen, LMFT.

Through both the treatment tools he was given in therapy and through medication, he was able to begin to live a normal and healthy lifestyle by conquering and facing his fears. Dylan recognized that it was challenging when he was first battling OCD, but he saw there was a light at the end of the tunnel if he worked hard and trusted the process.

After successful treatment, Dylan is now a business development manager for a landscaping company! He’s been successful in managing OCD, and he now feels that he has his whole life in front of him, and the days of struggling with OCD are behind him! Join us next Saturday to hear Dylan’s heroic journey and how his parents both supported him during his OCD recovery journey!

After Dylan and his parents share their recovery story, we will open the group for an interactive question-and-answer segment!

As a reminder, we do not record the support group for privacy reasons. This allows attendees the opportunity to share their experiences and ask questions in a safe space. We encourage you to attend or listen to the support group live on Saturday, March 8th! See you there at 11 am PT.

Email us with any additional questions at info@ocdsocal.org!

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Family and Loved One’s OCD Support Group (Virtually) on Saturday, February 8 from 11am to 1pm PT!

Victoria Lane and her family – February’s support group’s special guests

Join us this Saturday, February 8th, from 11 am to 1 pm PT (Pacific Time) for our free, virtual Family and Loved One’s OCD Support Group! It is facilitated by Chris Trondsen, LMFT, a licensed therapist who overcame OCD, along with his mom, Liz Trondsen. To join, email info@ocdsocal.org and ask for the support group Zoom link to be sent!

For our February support group, we will speak with Victoria–who received treatment for OCD–and her parents! Victoria joins us as a young adult with OCD who is also a Social Work Fellow at the OCD Institute of Texas, one of the top residential treatment centers for OCD in the country. She will be accompanied by her parents, Janan and Bill, who have been integral to her journey.

Victoria was officially diagnosed with OCD at age 20 and underwent intensive treatment. Inspired by her own recovery, she chose to pursue a master’s degree in clinical social work to work with those living with OCD, anxiety, and related disorders– and empower them to regain control of their lives, just as she did. She encourages everyone to understand that while treatment requires hard work, it has the potential to be life-changing. Her parents will share their insights on what was helpful—and what wasn’t—in supporting Victoria through her recovery journey.

After Victoria and her parents share their recovery story, we will open the group for an interactive question-and-answer segment!

As a reminder, we do not record the support group for privacy reasons. This allows attendees the opportunity to share their experiences and ask questions in a safe space. We encourage you to attend or listen to the support group live on Saturday, February 8th! See you there at 11 am PT.

Email us with any additional questions at info@ocdsocal.org!