Chris Trondsen, LMFT, a clinician with OCD, and his mom, Liz, are excited to remind you about our August virtual, free Family and Loved Ones OCD Support Group. To join, simply email info@ocdsocal.org and ask for the Zoom link.

The support group is held every second Saturday of the month. Our next group is Saturday, August 8th, from 11am to 1pm PT.  Please read the information for the August 8th Family & Loved Ones’ OCD Support Group:

For the month of August, we are excited to offer a special presentation with a panel of OCD experts. For the first part, Nathan Peterson, LCSW, will be doing a presentation for family members, loved ones, spouses, and siblings of someone with OCD titled, “The Do’s and Don’ts of OCD support”. This presentation will suggest evidence-based interventions that someone loving a person with OCD can do to support their loved one as they navigate their treatment journey. These do’s will provide the type of support that will make it more likely that your loved one gets the most out of treatment and helps restore balance in your family. The don’ts will be a list of things that often feel useful but actually can interfere with the work your loved one is doing in therapy.

After that, there has been a request to discuss common co-occurring disorders that many of your loved ones experience in addition to OCD that often makes treatment challenging. We’re splitting up these co-occurring disorders into two presentations; August 8th will be Part One.

Michelle Massi, LMFT, will discuss the intersection of OCD and depression. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM) states that about 65% of people with OCD will also have a depressive disorder. Co-occurring depression is one of the most common disorders that people with OCD experience.

Doctor Rebecca Sachs will discuss the intersection of OCD and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). There is a high rate of co-occurrence of OCD and autism, which requires the treatment to be modified. Due to the traits of autism and the symptoms of OCD having similarities, it is important that your loved one works with a provider with expertise in both.

Finally, Dr. Christina Dichiara, who is an expert on OCD and PTSD with nearly two decades of experience, will talk about how post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and trauma impact the treatment of OCD.

Each individual will give a presentation where they will discuss the co-occurring disorder and how it differs from OCD, how having both can make OCD more challenging to treat, and how OCD treatment is modified to address these co-occurring disorders. This presentation will provide greater insight if your loved one has a diagnosis of one of these co-occurring disorders. If they don’t, you may see that your loved one is actually also experiencing the co-occurring disorder but has never been diagnosed.

The presentations will be followed by a Q&A session with all four presenters. The presenters will address questions family members of loved ones have about OCD or these related disorders. You can ask questions about the specific topics brought up in group, or general questions about your family’s experience with OCD. This group is perfect for family members, loved ones, spouses, siblings, or anybody supporting somebody with OCD to learn how to best support them, as well as getting information on common co-occurring disorders that may be relevant to your situation.

We look forward to seeing you Saturday! To join, simply email info@ocdsocal.org and ask for the Zoom link., as well as share this with people with OCD—or anyone else interested.