2025 Online OCD Conference, A Global Event

Hello,

OCD Southern California appreciates everyone who has shown interest in
our recent conference! While the conference has ended, you are still able to purchase the video recordings of all presentations, as well as all slides and handouts.

For clinicians, please remember that the accreditation organization will only grant CE credits for presentations that you attended during the conference. They cannot grant credit for the presentations you watch at home.

We were thrilled to present a varied panel of keynote speakers who shared their inspirational stories about their OCD journey from recovery to advocacy and community-building, providing resources to individuals in need.

Following the keynote speakers, the conference included 46 presentations from which to choose. The Community Discussion groups were not recorded, due to confidentiality concerns. The conference ended with a Summary Q&A Panel featuring some of our most notable presenters.

More information about our presentations, led by some of the top OCD experts in the United States, has been posted on our website: ocdsocal.org/conference.

Presenting our Keynote Speakers:

Natasha Daniels has been an anxiety & OCD therapist for over two decades. She combines both her clinical expertise with her lived experience, raising her own three kids with anxiety and OCD. She is the creator of the website AT Parenting Survival. She gives in-depth support to parents raising kids with anxiety or OCD through her books, courses in the AT Parenting Survival Online School and in her online membership AT Parenting Community. Her latest books include Crushing OCD Workbook for Kids and her memoir, Out of My Shell: Overcoming Social Anxiety from Childhood to Adulthood.

Andrew GottWorth is an IOCDF Advocate, educator, and trainer in Berlin, Germany, originally from Louisville, Kentucky. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Western Kentucky University and a Master of Science in Environmental Studies from Kentucky State University. He was the Student Experience Coordinator at CODE University of Applied Sciences. He is a Disc Golf trainer and an amateur Disc Golf player. Andrew is a longtime volunteer with Teen Leadership programs, conferences, and nonprofits.

He founded the Berlin OCD Walk and launched the International Networking & Advocacy group that brings together advocates of all levels to help grow the I in IOCDF. Andrew loves combining evidence-based practices from research background, with compassion and service from volunteering and advocacy.

Chrissie Hodges is a Certified Peer Support Specialist living in Colorado and working with individuals worldwide providing peer support, support groups, and an online community through Treatment for OCD Consulting. She is the author of Pure OCD: The Invisible Side of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Chrissie is the founder and executive director of the non-profit 'OCD Gamechangers'. She is the Chief Operating Officer of Peer Recovery Services, a Colorado based Government contract placing and supervising certified peer support specialists in the Colorado State Institutions. Chrissie is an advocate for OCD through YouTube, social media, and the podcast Intrusive Thoughts Unmasked.

Kyle King is a medical student at the Yale School of Medicine interested in psychiatry, neurosurgery, and social determinants of health. Kyle was diagnosed with OCD at age 13 and, for six months, was completely debilitated by the disorder. Eventually, Kyle found a therapist specializing in Exposure-Response Prevention and, within a year of beginning treatment, had reclaimed his life from OCD. Since recovering, Kyle has been heavily involved in OCD advocacy work with the International OCD Foundation, currently co-leading the Young Adult Special Interest Group and co-hosting the monthly Research Roundtable livestream. Outside of advocacy, Kyle has worked in different research labs for the past five years on projects ranging from the neurobiology of OCRDs to hospital pricing schemes. And when he wants to stop thinking about medical stuff, Kyle loves watching The Simpsons and pretty much any stand-up comedy special.

Stuart Ralph is a counsellor and psychotherapist (MBACP Accred) for children and young people in the UK. He is co-founder of The Integrative Centre for OCD Therapy. He founded The OCD Stories podcast, a weekly podcast where he interviews some of the best minds in OCD recovery which has been downloaded more than 8 million times globally. In 2018 he was given the hero award by the International OCD Foundation.

Chris Trondsen, MS, LMFT, moderated the panel. Chris suffered from undiagnosed, severe OCD and BDD from childhood. Following treatment, Chris began advocating for mental health and shared his story on TV, in newspapers and in podcasts. Chris began speaking at Annual OCD Conferences, including giving the keynote with his mom at the 2011 conference. He also helped start the Young Adult Track at the annual conference.

Each of these speakers is a person impacted by OCD who has had a unique journey of support and recovery. They were thrilled to share their stories with the OCD community.

For more information about the conference, please visit ocdsocal.org/conference.