This blog has been co-authored by Adam Blake, M.Sc. and Marlene Taube-Schiff, PhD., C. Psych., R. Psych. One of the things we love about providing group therapy for OCD is seeing clients inspire and motivate each other. This is so important because the work of exposure and response prevention therapy can be challenging. Feeling supported…
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is quite prevalent among adolescents and teenagers. OCD symptoms in teens include the presence of unwanted and intrusive thoughts or images. These intrusive thoughts or obsessions will often feel distressing and do not align with a person’s values. In response to these obsessions, individuals will engage in a variety of compulsive…
You might notice that many clinics offer group therapy for individuals who have symptoms of OCD. You might think – why would I want to be around people when receiving group therapy? I would rather talk to someone individually because that would be more comfortable. However, there are actually many benefits when engaging in group…
You have decided to pursue treatment for your OCD. Amazing! Next step – how do you find the right therapist? Will they understand my OCD? Will you be able to tell them all of your intrusive thoughts? Read on to discover ways that we engage in therapist matching at Forward Thinking Psychological Services (FTPS). We…
Teens with OCD might struggle during exam time. It is a high stress time. Internal resources are running low. As a parent or loved one, you want to help them. What can you do? What happens to adolescents and teenagers during exam time? The end of the school year is often met with delight and…
Families with someone with OCD often face challenges in their relationships due to their OCD. For example, people will say their partners are frustrated with them because their rituals take up a lot of time. Or there might be restricted behaviours happening for family members in the home environment. Even though only one person in…
I recently read two systematic review articles describing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on individuals with OCD. Systematic reviews are a type of article where the authors carefully search for all of the research on a topic, and then combine it in a scientifically rigorous way. One article focused on young people and the…
It’s almost 2022 and time for New Year’s resolutions. And you want to work on your OCD as your resolution! Congratulations! You have come to the right place. We can help you find the right therapist and begin your work. In this blog, we will talk about what to look for in an OCD therapist….
There are so many subtypes of OCD that people speak about nowadays. There are often the most common ones that quickly come to mind, such as contamination-related OCD, harm-related OCD and “just-right” OCD. But now there are also many other subtypes that people will speak about. A quick internet search turns up a whole variety…
As more and more individuals across the globe have been able to access virtual therapy, we have learned a great deal about its benefits for clients. These have included: enhanced flexibility, increased accessibility and limitless creativity. I want to talk about the idea of limitless creativity today. When providing therapy for individuals with anxiety and…
It is that time of the year again for those of us who are living in Canada. The days are still long, but getting shorter. Night time falls just a little bit earlier than it did one month ago. And we all anticipate the first few leaves falling from the trees. This all means we…
Treatment for OCD is challenging. Recently, there has been an emphasis on exposure and response prevention (ERP) as the only effective…