OCD Groups

Provided via telehealth across Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and internationally.

Do you feel like nobody can understand what you are going through with your OCD?

You may feel that you can’t possibly share your embarrassing, scary intrusive thoughts with anybody out of fear that you will be ridiculed or judged. Some thoughts may seem so inappropriate and dangerous that you can’t imagine revealing them to anybody

If you did try to open up, people around you may have minimized your suffering and given you unhelpful advice to just ‘get over it.’ Or, they may have provided constant reassurance trying to make you feel better. But you know that the relief from reassurance is fleeting and the uncertainty, fear, pain, or discomfort always returns.

You may be ashamed of your rituals – visible and hidden- and keep promising yourself to stop them, but OCD always seems to win and you resort to ritualizing again, hoping that just this one last time will bring relief. But, of course, OCD always comes back and asks for more.

Unfortunately, OCD is often accompanied by profound feelings of loneliness and shame. It is very difficult for a person who does not have OCD to understand the never-ending battle that goes on in your mind.

But you are not alone. There are many others around you who battle OCD and feel just as lonely and lost as you. Their obsessions and compulsions may be similar to yours or different in content, but their battle with OCD and the process by which OCD is hooking them are the same.

Having OCD is hard enough. It is so important to find a community of people who get it and can understand what you are going through and support you.

We have been treating OCD for many years and we know dealing with OCD is tough. We want to provide people with the opportunity to connect and support each other and create a network and community where they won’t feel isolated or stigmatized.

It has always been difficult to coordinate days and times that work for people to come to the group in the office. To make matters even more difficult, many patients live far from the office and while they see their therapists via telehealth for individual sessions, they are unable to attend the in-person groups.

As we switched all our services to Telehealth during the pandemic, suddenly the logistics issue was resolved. People don’t have to drive for hours and can now attend the group from the comfort of their homes.

About the group

We offer a weekly therapy group for adults who suffer from OCD. This group is facilitated by a therapist specializing in the treatment of OCD and includes psycho-education, discussions of OCD-related topics, ERP, ACT, personal goal planning, and some free social time, during which you may talk with other participants informally. 

This group will incorporate psycho-educational elements of Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

The group will allow you to connect to other people who suffer from OCD and know what it's like to live with it and will also offer an opportunity to practice ERP exposures in a supportive environment.

The group is not a substitute for OCD treatment. It is intended to be an adjunct to therapy, to provide additional support, information, ideas, and opportunities to practice various intervention strategies for people who have received or are currently receiving treatment for OCD.

The main objective of this group is to help each member develop self-help skills in an atmosphere that offers emotional and practical support and instills confidence and hope. The focus of the group is on moving forward toward recovery (as opposed to discussing obsessions and compulsions and how they interfere with people’s lives). The group is action-oriented. The participants are encouraged to provide constructive suggestions and share experiences of what has been helpful in their recovery and not become sidetracked into non-productive symptoms discussions. 

Here are frequently asked questions about the group.

Who is a good candidate for the group

If you have OCD and are determined to take steps to gain control over it or to prevent relapse, then you can benefit from this group.

No matter which stage you are at in your recovery, you will finally have a group of people who really understand how you feel, what you have been through, and how sneaky OCD can be in tricking you into compulsing.

If you have already been in OCD treatment, this group will help you maintain your therapy gains and prevent relapse. If you are new to OCD treatment and are just starting, this group will give you hope and motivate you to engage in ERP.

Support in between the group sessions

In between the sessions, the group members are encouraged to support each other in a group chat that is open to all group members. There, you can ask questions, post helpful links and resources, exchange ideas about the best ways to do ERP, and support each other in attaining your weekly goals.

Our group members often work on their homework exposures together, contact each other when they need support, and even practice mindfulness and meditation together.

Fees

The group consists of six one-hour sessions. The total cost is $300 paid upfront upon registering to the group. If you would like to be on a waitlist for the group, a non-refundable $50 administration fee is required (it is counted toward the total cost of the group).

If you are not a patient of Turning Point Psychological Services, an abbreviated one-hour intake ($210) with the group facilitator is required prior to attending the group to assess whether the group will be a good fit for you.

To inquire about the group, please visit this page