OCD Related Content

Podcast: Dr. Jeff Szymanski (IOCDF) on OCD and Hoarding

In this week’s episode, Trevor talks openly about how his problems staying mindful and present have led to some significant changes in his medication regimen and recalls a particularly difficult time in his life when a certain med he was taking led to some serious physical issues and an embarrassing...

McLean Hospital’s Innovative OCD Program: Two Decades of Progress

Twenty years ago, McLean Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital launched the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Institute (OCDI)—an innovative and first-of-its-kind intensive treatment program for individuals living with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Since first opening its doors on the...

Patient Perspective: Reflections 20 Years After Seeking Treatment

At 22, Robin did the hardest thing she had ever done in her life: she confronted her fears. Her fear of God, her fear of unintentionally causing others harm, and her fear of germs—all caused by obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)—had robbed her of her teen years and she wasn’t going to let the...

Reclaiming Her Freedom: One Young Patient Works to Overcome OCD

For 14-year-old Qun Li Fan, who lives with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), freedom has a meaning all its own. The freedom to participate in everyday activities—such as going to school, playing her violin, or even sleeping in her own bed—was taken away by this disorder. Fan has a type of OCD...

How One OCD Patient Is Finding Hope

Katie Wilson is a former patient at McLean’s OCD Institute. I am six months pregnant and I am sleeping on a small patch of the living room floor, because every bed, sofa, or other surface in my home feels contaminated to me. Not safe. I am a trained and registered nurse, with a fear of blood that...

Keep Dreaming: One Patient’s Journey with OCD

Adira Weixlmann is a former patient at McLean’s OCD Institute (OCDI) Life transitions can be an intense combination of positive and negative. Change creates great excitement and hope for the future, but can also be riddled with intense anxiety and worry about the unknown. As an OCD (obsessive...

Earlier Treatment Promotes Better Lives for Young Patients With OCD

A young boy spent eight hours a day on rituals to ensure that his dog was safe, including securing windows and doors and patrolling his home for perceived danger. A teenager’s dread of contracting AIDS cut her off from ordinary experiences like a first kiss. Children and adolescents with obsessive...

Through a Mother’s Eyes: The Struggles and Triumphs of OCD

Lynette Peck is mother of a former patient at McLean’s OCD Institute. Tomorrow morning I will move my son into his new dorm room. Already today he and I have packed the car, driven 550 miles, eaten at two restaurants, used a number of public restrooms, chatted, laughed, and listened to countless...

Actor Experiences Success Despite Years of Anguish

Hollywood loves a good medical drama, but for Ethan S. Smith, a successful actor, writer and director, the anguish he experienced due to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) was all too real. Although Smith now successfully manages his OCD, it was just a few years ago that he was in the depths of...

In a Patient’s Words: In My Own Head

“Okay, Lisa. Go.” That’s Carol Hevia, a behavioral therapist at the OCDI, talking to me in my head, as if I was sitting in her Intrusive Thoughts group. Once again, she’s telling me it’s time to spill my guts. When I was a resident at the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Institute (OCDI) one year ago...

Patchwork: One OCD Patient’s Story

Rachel is a former patient at the OCD Institute. I’m obsessed with “The Real Housewives” and “The Rachel Zoe Project.” And I love to sew. I’ll sit down on a Saturday morning, coffee in hand, and watch a few episodes in a row, sewing by hand or speeding fabric through my machine. Either of these...

Radical Faith: A Patient’s Journey with OCD

Ethan Smith is a former patient of McLean’s OCD Institute. We all have our stories of pain and triumph, and while they may completely differ in symptom and severity, we all share a common bond: obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). While it can be a motivating factor to know there are individuals out...

Staff Profile: Michaela B. Swee, PhD

Michaela B. Swee, PhD, is a staff psychologist in the Outpatient Trauma Clinic and co-director of Adult Psychology Training at McLean Hospital. She is an instructor in psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Her research and clinical interests surround the intersection...

Staff Profile: Daniel I. Gittins Stone, PhD

Daniel I. Gittins Stone, PhD, is a licensed psychologist specializing in the use of cognitive behavior therapy in the treatment of anxiety, mood, and related disorders in children, adolescents, and young adults. He is experienced in providing evidence-based interventions through individual, group...

Staff Profile: Luisa Barreto, PsyD

Luisa Barreto, PsyD, is a post-doctoral fellow who works with children, adolescents, and families at McLean’s Child and Adolescent OCD Institute (OCDI Jr.). She specializes in providing cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy to youth with severe anxiety...

Staff Profile: Rachel O. Rubin, PhD

Rachel O. Rubin, PhD, is a post-doctoral fellow who works with children, adolescents, and families at the Child and Adolescent OCD Institute (OCDI Jr.). She specializes in providing evidence-based treatments, such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), and...