Guest guest Posted July 19, 1999 Report Share Posted July 19, 1999 Hi Everyone: Well finally we are back home, over tons of jet lag and caught up a bit with life and work. I did want to share some memories of the OCF Conference in DC. I really found the conference very worthwhile, the highlight being meeting list buddies in DC. Putting a face to the names we get mail from is a great treat. Steve's whole mainland trip seemed to help him take a mini-vacation from OCD. He did show symptoms of course, but they were very slight and he has been doing quite a bit of self-directed EX/RP. His spirits were excellent, no sign of his depression. Last year he could not look at the sonian exhibits with bones (death obsessions big time) and this year he asked us to take picture of him with them! He had fun hanging out and swimming with his brother and 's Tom and Ziv. Also he enjoyed attending the children's sessions the OCF offered at the conference. The most important memory I brought home is how much hope there is now for our kids with OCD. My " Ask the Experts " session was with Dr. Edna Foa who told me that when kids have their OCD put into the background of their lives with EX/RP they do not relapse. It was so reassuring to hear fresh OCD information from the knowledgeable docs at the conference. Also for those who also are on the OCD-L I met Dr. C. and we had a couple of interesting conversations. The session on stigma was very well attended, they had to adopt crowd control measures to get us to enter the room in an orderly fashion! Since Steve also has MDD, listening to Wallace, Styron and Buchwald describe their demon depression was very good for him. I noticed after their discussing their meds he was not as eager to titrate down on his Paxil as before. BTW he is now down again to 15 mg and we are wondering how it will go. I realize he really only needs meds now for his depression and has his OCD in control using CBT only. This is so miraculous as his OCD was so severe and he seemed a hopeless case, not just to us, but to several of the earliest docs we consulted with. I am more convinced than ever after attending the conference that for almost all our kids the answer lies in doing CBT (Ex/RP). Many professionals there treat kids without using any meds at all! As we all know it can be so hard to find experienced therapists but the search is worth it. Steve's therapist also went to the conference and the docs there encouraged her to attend their upcoming Behavior Therapy Institute. SHe got a consultation with Dr. Baer as part of her registration. Next year the OCF conference is likely to be (according to rumor) in the Southwest. I hope we can go again as we enjoy taking in the conference and sightseeing the location. We bought a couple of new treatment manuals and one has a list of suggestions to parents that I might post here (with the correct attribution). One of the conference attendees I met told me she has been going since the first one and notices how much more emphasis there is on kids and OCD now. Also I noticed how many professionals were attending the sessions for kids and expressed an interest in learning how to work with kids and expand their practices from working just with adults! Sorry for the long post, take care, aloha, Kathy (Ha) kathyh@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 19, 1999 Report Share Posted July 19, 1999 Kathy,Can you tell me something about the conferences. I've never been to one,and would need to plan ahead if I would go.Are there always two a year?And is there one, always in the summer ?One is the OCF conference and what 's the other one? Thanks Beth in IN. OCF Conference Memories > From: kathyh@... (Kathy Hammes) > > Hi Everyone: > > Well finally we are back home, over tons of jet lag and caught up a bit > with life and work. I did want to share some memories of the OCF > Conference in DC. I really found the conference very worthwhile, the > highlight being meeting list buddies in DC. Putting a face to the names we > get mail from is a great treat. > > Steve's whole mainland trip seemed to help him take a mini-vacation from > OCD. He did show symptoms of course, but they were very slight and he has > been doing quite a bit of self-directed EX/RP. His spirits were excellent, > no sign of his depression. Last year he could not look at the sonian > exhibits with bones (death obsessions big time) and this year he asked us > to take picture of him with them! He had fun hanging out and swimming with > his brother and 's Tom and Ziv. Also he enjoyed attending the > children's sessions the OCF offered at the conference. > > The most important memory I brought home is how much hope there is now for > our kids with OCD. My " Ask the Experts " session was with Dr. Edna Foa who > told me that when kids have their OCD put into the background of their > lives with EX/RP they do not relapse. It was so reassuring to hear fresh > OCD information from the knowledgeable docs at the conference. Also for > those who also are on the OCD-L I met Dr. C. and we had a couple of > interesting conversations. > > The session on stigma was very well attended, they had to adopt crowd > control measures to get us to enter the room in an orderly fashion! Since > Steve also has MDD, listening to Wallace, Styron and Buchwald describe > their demon depression was very good for him. I noticed after their > discussing their meds he was not as eager to titrate down on his Paxil as > before. BTW he is now down again to 15 mg and we are wondering how it will > go. I realize he really only needs meds now for his depression and has his > OCD in control using CBT only. This is so miraculous as his OCD was so > severe and he seemed a hopeless case, not just to us, but to several of the > earliest docs we consulted with. > > I am more convinced than ever after attending the conference that for > almost all our kids the answer lies in doing CBT (Ex/RP). Many > professionals there treat kids without using any meds at all! As we all > know it can be so hard to find experienced therapists but the search is > worth it. Steve's therapist also went to the conference and the docs there > encouraged her to attend their upcoming Behavior Therapy Institute. SHe > got a consultation with Dr. Baer as part of her registration. > > Next year the OCF conference is likely to be (according to rumor) in the > Southwest. I hope we can go again as we enjoy taking in the conference and > sightseeing the location. We bought a couple of new treatment manuals and > one has a list of suggestions to parents that I might post here (with the > correct attribution). One of the conference attendees I met told me she > has been going since the first one and notices how much more emphasis there > is on kids and OCD now. Also I noticed how many professionals were > attending the sessions for kids and expressed an interest in learning how > to work with kids and expand their practices from working just with adults! > > Sorry for the long post, take care, aloha, Kathy (Ha) > kathyh@... > > > > --------------------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 19, 1999 Report Share Posted July 19, 1999 HI Beth: THe OCF Conference is every year and information about registering is sent to OCF members and also posted on their website (http://www.ocfoundation.org). The OCSDA conference is held every other year and information is posted on their website (http://www.ocdhelp.org). This year the OCSDA conference was in May. Last year the OCF conference was in August and this year it was moved up to July. Some people also go to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA) conference which I think was held in March this year and is already scheduled for 2000 - sorry but I don't have the info at my fingertips, you could look for their website. Other organizations like NAMI and NMHA also have conferences too. I have never been to any of these but I have read about them. Hope this info helps, take care, aloha, Kathy (ha) kathyh@... At 07:44 AM 7/19/99 -0500, you wrote: >From: " Wayt " <rwwayt@...> > >Kathy,Can you tell me something about the conferences. I've never been to >one,and would need to plan ahead if I would go.Are there always two a >year?And is there one, always in the summer ?One is the OCF conference and >what 's the other one? Thanks Beth in IN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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