Date: Oct 06, 2010

Inaugural OCD New York Conference Features Workshops for Professionals and the Public,As Well As "OCD Stories: An Evening of Reflection, Humor and Education"

A Unique Storytelling Event to be Held at Hofstra University, October 16

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY … The New York Chapter of the International OCD Foundation and Hofstra University’s Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology are partnering on an October 16, 2010, conference on obsessive compulsive disorder. This day of panels and workshops will culminate with a unique broadcast event at 7 p.m. titled OCD Stories: An Evening of Reflection, Humor and Education. OCD Stories will feature doctors who treat obsessive compulsive disorder, family members of patients with OCD, and those who suffer from OCD sharing their experiences and anecdotes relating to the illness.

This event is being presented in conjunction with the second annual OCD Awareness Week, October 11 to 17. While the October 16 event is hosted by Hofstra, the evening simulcast will include satellite storytelling events in cities across the country, anchored by the OCD Foundation’s Boston headquarters. Participants at the various locations will be able to watch live storytelling from each of the IOCDF affiliate sites. OCD New York is the newest affiliate of the International OCD Foundation and this is their inaugural event.

“Within our community, we have many amazing stories of hope, triumph, and of course, humor,” said Dr. Jeff Szymanski, executive director of the International OCD Foundation, of the telecast. “These true stories will serve as a vital educational tool to inspire OCD sufferers and support their families in their search for effective OCD treatment.”

Dr. Fugen Neziroglu, adjunct professor of psychology at Hofstra and clinical director of Bio-Behavioral Institute in Great Neck, will kick-off the evening’s national telecast by speaking live at Hofstra, sharing her story of being among the first people in the United States to help identify and treat OCD. Dr. Neziroglu and her colleague, Dr. Jose Yaryura-Tobias, started the Obsessive Compulsive Society in 1979 in order to actively de-stigmatize OCD and to bring it to the forefront of a recognizable and treatable disorder, a time when only three pages in the most notable psychiatric texts were devoted to the disorder.

Dr. Mitchell Schare, the director of the Hofstra’s award-winning Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology sees the conference and telecast as a great learning opportunity for both doctoral students and the community at large. "Our doctoral students are the next generation of clinical psychologists who will work with individuals suffering from this disabling spectrum of difficulties. The program on October 16 will consist of workshops and presentations aimed at both professional wishing to hone their skills on the diagnosis and treatment of OCD disorders as well as information oriented to give the general population a greater understanding of these difficulties." 

To highlight OCD Awareness Week on the Hofstra campus, doctoral students will provide information on obsessive compulsive disorders and treatment resources throughout the week leading to Saturday's events at tables in the University's Mack Student Center.
 
Workshops offered during the daytime program include topics such as Innovative Medication Options; Overcoming Treatment Obstacles; New Treatment Options: Deep Brain Stimulation; and a Q/A with a panel of OCD experts.

Registration fees for the conference and telecast are as follows:

Morning Workshops for Mental Health Professionals: $75
Afternoon Conference:
IOCDF Members: $25
Non IOCDF Members and St. Johns affiliates: $35
Family Rate: $50
Hofstra Alumni and non-Hofstra students: $20
Hofstra Faculty/Staff/Students: free

Pre-registration is highly recommended. Please e-mail ocdny@ocfoundation.org or call (516) 442-9621 to register.

The OCD Foundation estimates that up to 4 million Americans suffer from OCD. While OCD has no cure, its symptoms, which include obsessive thoughts and compulsive rituals, can be managed effectively with therapy and medication.

About Hofstra’s Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology

Hofstra’s Ph.D. Program in Clinical Psychology (APA accredited) is designed to provide doctoral students with skills in assessment and psychotherapy, along with a solid foundation in the science of behavior. This allows them to have careers that focus on working with a wide variety of behavioral, emotional and cognitive problems that are generally considered to be problematic or psychopathological, or to fall within the realm of mental illness. Students are trained to work with adults, adolescents, and children, as well as families and larger organizations structures. Applicants are encouraged to review faculty clinical and research areas prior to applying, and to indicate their own interests when they apply, so that they can receive both broad clinical training and specific skill development according to the interests of the faculty members with whom they are paired. As part of the Ph.D. program, students take courses and seminars, work in our on-campus mental health clinic, see clients and patients in our specialty clinics, and complete mental health externships and a full-year internship. In the specialty clinics, students may be trained in clinical areas such as virtual reality exposure therapy, adult and adolescent anger management, parent-child interaction therapies, acceptance and commitment therapy, sports interventions, work with the severely and persistently mentally ill, marital therapy, and adult anxiety and depression management.

Program graduates have readily found employment in mental health clinics, group practices, and public and private agencies as well as hospitals, medical centers and prisons. Some have chosen academic paths by becoming college and university faculty members, medical school faculty members, research scientists, expert consultants or editors for psychological publications.

About the International OCD Foundation

The International OCD Foundation is the foremost resource about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and related illnesses. It is an international organization that exists to raise awareness among policy makers and the general public about OCD, educate the mental health community about the latest treatments and research, connect people suffering from OCD with treatment providers, and advance research for more effective treatments. Based in Boston, the OCD Foundation has affiliates in Massachusetts, Florida, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and California. The OCD Foundation was founded as the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation in 1986 by a dozen OCD patients at Yale. Twenty-four years later, the organization has an annual $1 million annual operating budget, has granted $2.5 million for treatment research, and is a resource for tens of thousands of people. For more information, visit www.ocfoundation.org.