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

The support group is held every second Saturday of the month. Our next group is Saturday, September 12th, from 11am to 1pm PT. Please read the information for the September 12th Family & Loved Ones’ OCD Support Group:

For the month of September, we are excited to offer a special presentation with a panel of OCD experts. For the first part, Chris Trondsen, LMFT, will be doing a presentation for family members, loved ones, spouses, and siblings of someone with OCD titled, “Expected Treatment Milestones of Your Loved One’s Therapy.” This presentation will focus on the major goals and milestones your loved one should reach during evidence-based treatment and when to expect them to be met. For instance, after the first few sessions, your loved one should understand what an obsession and compulsion are, understand what is going on in their brain, and be aware of the evidence-based treatments offered. As a supporter of someone in your life with OCD, this will help you understand what your loved one is doing in therapy, what goals they should be meeting in treatment and when, give you a realistic timeline of recovery, and what to do if you feel as if your loved one is not making progress.

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 three presentations; September 12th will be Part Two.

Anthony Pinto, PhD, will discuss the intersection of OCD and obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). Many people confuse OCD and OCPD, however, they are entirely different disorders. OCPD features rigid thinking, perfectionism, preoccupation with order and details, and it often makes it difficult for interpersonal relationships.

Sara Vicendese, LMFT, will discuss the intersection of OCD and bipolar disorder. There are unique challenges when experiencing both disorders, including the medication prescribed and difficulties doing treatment in manic and depressive episodes.

Scott Granet, who is an expert on both OCD and BDD, and has written a book on both disorders, will talk about how treatment is different for people with BDD than OCD, as well as the high co-occurrence rates.

Finally, Erin Jones, LCMHC, will discuss OCD and anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders have the highest co-occurring rate with OCD at around 75 percent. Erin will discuss multiple anxiety disorders including generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety (also known as social phobia), and more!

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 five 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 to be on the mailing list for the Zoom link., as well as share this with people with OCD—or anyone else interested.