The OCD GOAL Support Group and Virtual Camping: The 15th Annual Road to Recovery Tour

If you’re going to be at the 2015 IOCDF Annual Conference in Boston, don’t make any plans to go sightseeing on Friday night … because we have something to do that’s much, much better.

Start out your evening with a GOAL Support Group from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in “Venue 4” at the conference hotel. The GOAL group presented here was started in the spring of 1981, and is the oldest and longest running OCD support group in the country. The group will begin with a brief presentation describing the structure of the group and how each part of the meeting fulfills the needs of its members. This will be followed by attendees participating in the planning phase of a GOAL meeting. In doing so, they will begin to gain some control over their OCD. Participants, families, and professionals will observe experienced group leaders guide attendees into choosing achievable goals.

Then, round out the day’s activities with Dr. Jon Grayson’s Virtual Camping: The 15th Annual Road to Recovery Tour from 8:45 to 10:30 p.m. in “Venue 1” at the conference hotel. I attended this amazing event for the first time last year, and this year I’m honored to be a “camp counselor” along with Jon Hershfield, MFT of The OCD and Anxiety Center of Greater Baltimore, Dr. Amy Jenks of The Bay Area OCD and Anxiety Center, and Laurah Shames of the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Institute at McLean Hospital.

What is a “virtual camping trip” and what in the world does it have to do with OCD? Most people are sure they hate camping and for most OCD sufferers, this seems doubly so. However, we have found that OCD camping trips have a profoundly therapeutic effect and, even more shockingly, people like to come back. Repeating this experiential workshop for the 15th year, we will begin with a brief presentation about our camping trips (that you may have seen in People Magazine) and how they can inspire you to risk getting better. Following this, participants—patients, family members, and professionals—will go on a field trip throughout Boston in which participants will experience the exhilaration of conquering OCD fears in a group that goes beyond your imagination. Everyone will be encouraged to support and help one another, but participants will only do what they choose to do. The surprise will be in how much more you will choose to do during this adventure.

Join us to find support, make new friends, and kick start your OCD recovery with a Friday night like you’ve never had before!