Tuesday OCD Recovery Group Meetings
Please note this group is not currently meeting. Here is a listing of topics from past meetings.
Past Meetings
Saturday, July 23
Bring it On! ERP Session
The Tuesday and Wednesday OCD Recovery Groups will join together for a morning session where everyone can go out and poke their OCD together. Join us for ERP games and a chance to remind your OCD who’s in charge!
Tuesday, June 21
Wrap Up
Starting in July, the Tuesday and Wednesday OCD Recovery Groups will be merged. This will be the last meeting of the Tuesday group on its own to talk about the past year and a half of meetings, what everyone has learned from each other, and how members can continue to strengthen their recoveries.
May 17, 2016
Allen Weg, Ed.D. from Stress & Anxiety Services of NJ:
Twenty One Ways to BOOST your ERP Treatment for OCD
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) treatment for OCD is more than simply exposing oneself to a hierarchy of obsessional triggers and then preventing oneself from responding with rituals. While the basics of ERP are relatively well known, there are many subtle aspects of the mechanics of how one carries out this form of therapy that are unknown to both OCD treatment consumers as well as mental health professionals. This program reviews, in rapid fire bullet-like fashion, 21 distinct and separate concepts and strategies representing the more subtle, lesser-known aspects of ERP for OCD fears, that, if applied on a regular basis, greatly increases the likelihood for treatment success, and speeds the rate of recovery.
April 19, 2016
Work and OCD
No part of our lives is safe from OCD’s influence. Tonight we’ll discuss how OCD can negatively impact work or school and what you can do about it.
March 15, 2016
Parenting and OCD
There’s no doubt that OCD is highly disruptive, but is there a way to minimize its impact on your kids? Join us tonight for a frank discussion of how members’ OCD have affected their children and their ideas for lessening the disruption it can cause.
February 16, 2016
Love is in the air … or is it? Relationships and OCD
Any mental illness can be a strain on relationships, but OCD creates some additional challenges, even beyond the aptly named Relationship OCD. For instance, family members and friends lovingly but annoyingly accusing you well into your recovery of obsessing or doing rituals when you’re actually not! This evening we’ll discuss everything OCD and relationships. Recommended pre-reading is Jon Hershfield’s awesome book, When a Family Member Has OCD.
Sunday, January 24, 2016: 3:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Ten Steps Out When Stuck in Doubt with special guest speaker Jeff Bell
Just because we’re recovery doesn’t mean OCD is going to leave us alone! Join Jeff Bell, author of When in Doubt, Make Belief and co-founder with Shala of Beyond the Doubt, to learn how to use the Ten Steps to effectively and quickly manage an OCD lapse so you can get back to living your life.
January 19, 2016
People pleasing and more…
At this meeting we discussed people pleasing, dealing with “dead time,” tips for reducing anxiety, and vulnerability. The Brené Brown TED Talks mentioned during the meeting can be found here. Also, to celebrate the start of a new year, in this meeting we also set themes for 2016, which Gretchen Rubin describes in a recent blog post.
Decem
ber 9, 2015
Fun with OCD
You can have a good life, even if you have OCD! At this meeting we discussed some ways to poke fun at your OCD and keep yourself in a good recovery at the same time.
November 17, 2015
Medication and OCD with Guest Speaker Grisel E. Jimenez-Fas, MD, LCMS
Dr. Grisel Jimenez-Fas answered members’ questions about medications for OCD.
October 20, 21015
Member topics and more on mindfulness
We discussed the difference between mindfulness and mindfulness meditation, why mindfulness can be beneficial, and how to use it effectively in OCD recovery
September 15, 2015
Guest Speaker Shannon Shy, author of “It’ll be Okay.”: How I Kept Obsessive-Compulsive 
Disorder (OCD) from Ruining My Life and Hope Is on Your Side: A Motivational Journal for Those Affected by Obsessive-compulsive Disorder
We talked with Shannon about his journey to recovery, his inspirational Facebook page for people with OCD, his recommendations for strengthening recovery, and of course, group member questions for Shannon.
August 18, 2015
Takeaways from the 2015 International OCD Foundation conference
We discussed topics that members brought to group, inhibitory learning, upcoming meetings, and the final version of Jon and Shala’s Top 10 Tips for Coping with OCD and Relapse Prevention.
July 17, 2015
Top tips for recovering from OCD
June 16, 2015
Mindfulness and learning to live in the present moment with speaker guest speaker Jon Hershfield, MFT, author of The Mindfulness Workbook for OCD: A Guide to Overcoming Obsessions and Compulsions Using Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
March 17, 2015
Discussion of relapse
What are appropriate expectations to have around “relapse” and what does “relapse” mean?
February 17, 2015
Discussion of member-selected topics
January 20, 2015
Theme for the year and planning
We discussed your “theme” for the new year, as well as what you’d like us to discuss in upcoming sessions
December 16, 2014
Managing anxiety and stress
While the holidays have the potential to be delightful, they can also be a time of high expectations, packed schedules, and in a word….stress. Of course, OCD will want to use that stress against us. In this month’s meeting we did a refresher session on handling anxiety, so that you can have a joyful, instead of stressful, holiday season.
November 18, 2014
OCD and relationships
Even when you’re in recovery, OCD can affect your relationships with those around you. In this month’s meeting we talked about how to navigate the relationship issues with partners, spouses, family members, and friends that can arise during recovery.
October 21, 2014
Self-compassion and giving yourself credit
It may not be very surprising to learn that many of us with OCD are not all that nice to ourselves! In this month’s meeting we discussed how being more self-compassionate can strengthen your recovery from OCD. Before this meeting take the self-compassion assessment and bring your scores to our meeting for discussion.
October 25, 2014
Special session with Jeff Bell
Jeff is the author of When in Doubt, Make Belief and REWIND, REPLAY, REPEAT: A Memoir of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and the founder of The Adversity 2 Advocacy Alliance.In today’s special session, we discussed using the concept of your Greater Good to stay in recovery. We also talked with Jeff about his personal journey to overcome OCD, the “doubt bully,” and how he turned his own adversity into advocacy for others.
September 16, 2014
Inaugural meeting
Join us for the inaugural meeting of the OCD Recovery Group to meet others who have recovered from OCD, to learn and reinforce relapse prevention skills and techniques, and to receive and give support about OCD recovery.