Treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and How Teachers Can Help
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Treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and How Teachers Can Help

What is OCD? Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can impact both adults, adolescents and children. Treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder is very important to access. A study conducted in 2018 revealed the prevalence of OCD being diagnosed in Canada was close to 1% (0.93%). This is a significant portion of the population.  According to the Diagnostic…

How do I Know if I need OCD Therapy?
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How do I Know if I need OCD Therapy?

How Do I Know If I Need Help with OCD? Making the decision to start therapy can be anxiety-producing. You might ask yourself: how do I know if OCD therapy is right for me? There are many things to consider.  First, you want to consider what symptoms you are experiencing. According to The Diagnostic and…

Curious about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Group Therapy?
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Curious about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Group Therapy?

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…

What Are the Best Ways to Help a Teen Who Has OCD?
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What Are the Best Ways to Help a Teen Who Has OCD?

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…

Group Therapy for OCD
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Group Therapy for OCD

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…

How to Find the Right Therapist for my OCD Treatment
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How to Find the Right Therapist for my OCD Treatment

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…

OCD and Exam Time: How to Help your Teen
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OCD and Exam Time: How to Help your Teen

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…

It’s All in the Family: OCD and the Importance of Family Work During Treatment for OCD
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It’s All in the Family: OCD and the Importance of Family Work During Treatment for OCD

Treatment for OCD involves many important aspects. Families with loved ones with OCD often face challenges in their relationships due to the interference of OCD beliefs and rituals. Treatment for OCD can help. People will say their partners are frustrated with them because their rituals take up a lot of time. Partners might also be…

OCD treatment: Finding our “new normal” in ERP work
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OCD treatment: Finding our “new normal” in ERP work

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…

OCD Subtypes: How important are they?
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OCD Subtypes: How important are they?

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…

Virtual Therapy Has No Limits
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Virtual Therapy Has No Limits

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…