As the new year begins, everyone is putting together their 2026 New Year’s resolutions with the goal of improving their lives. We want to help you make changes in the new year that will support your OCD journey, by finding ways to deal with the stress, anxiety, and depression that comes with having the disorder.

At this January event, held on Saturday, January 10th, from 11am to 2pm PST (note the extra hour added for Q&A!), we are bringing together five experts who will focus on ways one can improve their lifestyle to support mental wellness. Email info@ocdsocal.org and request the free, Zoom link!

The event is open to people with OCD, along with their loved ones, family, members, and spouses—or anyone else interested. The person with OCD can find tangible ways to improve their lifestyle and support their OCD treatment. As loved ones, this valuable information will give you ways to support a loved one with OCD in making these life improvements.

This event is titled, “Improving Lifestyle Factors to Aid in OCD Recovery: Incorporating Exercise, Sleep, Diet, Mindfulness, Spirituality & Other Stress Relieving Measures for Recovery!” It will be held during our normal monthly Family & Loved One’s Support Group slot (every second Saturday of the month) and the information shared is important for both the person with OCD and those who support them.

January 10th’s presentation will focus on how to reduce stress and improve mental health through improving sleep, finding a beneficial diet, utilizing exercise and movement for stress reduction, incorporating mindfulness and yoga to aid with being grounded, and how to find ways to add faith or spirituality into your life for additional support. Other lifestyle factors will be discussed including the impact of alcohol and drugs, creating a social circle, the importance of daily structure, why being in nature is important, how humor improves mood, and more!

If you are new to this presentation, we hope this information will be valuable in supporting your OCD treatment, and if you have seen our previous presentations, join us again. We have added an additional speaker, and all of the presenters have updated their slides with current information on their topic.

The presenters are Chris Trondsen, LMFT, a licensed therapist who lives with two sleep disorders and has additional training in sleep disorders and sleep improvement. Liz Trondsen, RD, is a registered dietitian who focuses on the correlation between the mind and gut connection and diet’s role in OCD and anxiety. Krista Reed, LSCSW, is a licensed therapist with a focus on how mindfulness improves mental health and is a certified child’s yoga instructor. She will speak on how to incorporate meditation, mindfulness, and yoga in one’s life and their benefits. Tom Smalley, MS, CMPC, CSCS, is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant, a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, and has won 3 gold medals in weightlifting. Lastly, Rev. Katie O’Dunne is an ordained minister. She is an interfaith chaplain who will focus on how to incorporate spirituality and the faith of one’s choosing as additional support and comfort.

These five will present on the above topics to give the person with OCD a set of tools to support their OCD journey by improving their overall health and wellness. We will finish with a Q&A.

Read more about the presenters on our website www.ocdsocal.org, and we will see you Saturday, January 10, from 11 to 2pm PST, for the 3-hour event! Email info@ocdsocal.org and ask for the free, Zoom link!