half day workshop

RECENT ADVANCES IN THE ASSESSMENT AND COGNITIVE TREATMENT OF OCD
Sabine Wilhelm, MGH/Harvard Medical School USA and Gail Steketee, Boston University, USA

Princess Hotel Room: Princess 1/2

Due to the many positive outcomes, Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is currently considered the psychological treatment of choice for OCD. However, many patients are resistant to this treatment or refuse ERP, reluctant to undergo the anxiety provoking exposure exercises. Recently, new cognitive assessment tools and numerous cognitive interventions were developed that provide an alternative to ERP.  This workshop will teach attendees how to assess, conceptualize and treat a patient using cognitive methods. Attendees will learn how to tailor mindfulness skills, Socratic questioning, metaphors and several other cognitive strategies (e.g., continuum technique, responsibility pie, taking another’s perspective, etc.) to different OCD symptom subtypes, including religious, sexual and harming obsessions unaccompanied by overt compulsions. Case material demonstrating the application of these techniques will be presented.

Sabine Wilhelm, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the Harvard Medical School.  She is the Director of the Cognitive Behavior Therapy Program, and the Director of Clinical Services at the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Clinic at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School.     Gail Steketee, PhD, Professor and acting Dean at the Boston University School of Social Work, has conducted many research studies of OCD and spectrum conditions, including BDD and compulsive hoarding. Both Drs. Wilhelm and Steketee have published extensively on OCD and hold several NIMH grants to study OCD and related disorders.

Key References:
Frost, R.O., & Steketee, G. (2002) (Eds.) Cognitive approaches to obsessive compulsive disorder: Theory, assessment and treatment. Oxford: Elsevier. 
Wilhelm S. Steketee, G. Cognitive therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder: A Guide for Professionals (2006). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Press