OCD Treatment Through Storytelling

Allen H. Weg, Ed.D. is a licensed psychologist and Founder and Executive Director of Stress and Anxiety Services of New Jersey. He is also Co-Founder and Vice President on the Board of Directors of OCD New Jersey, an affiliate of the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF), on which he is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board.

"This is the most creative book I have read in years on OCD. It offers experienced as well as novice clinicians a totally new way of understanding and explaining the phenomenology and the cognitive behavioral treatment of OCD. I believe that many patients will feel more understood, benefit and be more likely to engage in anxiety provoking treatments by utilizing these wonderful stories."--Fugen Neziroglu, Ph.D., ABBP, Clinical Director, Bio-BehavioralInstitute, Great Neck, NY and author of Body Dysmorphic Disorder: A Treatment Manual"Dr. Weg has produced a masterpiece that shows clinicians innovative ways to teach patients and their family members about the complexities of OCD. I highly recommend this book. It is entertaining and teaches a very useful way of communicating the difficult and often very frightening aspects of OCD symptoms and treatment."--Michael Jenike, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Founder of the OCD Clinical and Research program, Harvard Medical School and Founder ofthe OCD Institute, McLean Hospital"Human beings have been passing along vital knowledge via the use of stories ever since they began to speak. Dr. Weg's ability to accurately conceptualize and communicate the most important and practical concepts of OCD and its treatment falls neatly into this tradition. And very helpful and informative stories they are, too. I'm sure I will use some of them myself, in my own work."--Fred Penzel, Ph.D., Executive Director, Western Suffolk PsychologicalServices, Huntington, New York"Weg's use of story telling technique teaches us that complex ideas based in theories of behavior change can be conveyed to patients in ways that are entertaining, illuminating, and even fun. The book will surely entertain and inform OCD sufferers and family members, but it should be read especially by young clinicians who often get too entangled in trying to do CBT 'correctly.' Weg's volume will encourage them to loosen up, let their creative juices flow, and'Fly Into the Darkness' to draw upon the richness their own experiences as metaphors for the various aspects of the treatment process."--Bruce Hyman, Ph.D., LCSW, Director, OCD Resource Center ofFlorida and author of The OCD Workbook

• IntroductionChapter One: Obsessions and CompulsionsChapter Two: Exposure TherapyChapter Three: The Nuts and Bolts of Exposure TherapyChapter Four: Thinking Processes Associated with Exposure TherapyChapter Five: When Symptoms Persist After ExposureChapter Six: When A Child Has OCDChapter Seven: TrustChapter Eight: Lapses and RelapsesChapter Nine: Special TopicsChapter Ten: In Defense of ERP as an OCD TreatmentConcluding StatementsAppendix: Index of StoriesFurther Reading