IOCDF Annual Conference

By: Mary Torres, M.A., LMHC, NCC

Just getting back from the Annual IOCDF Conference and I am, once again, blown away by the whole thing. It is so hard to put into words the feeling that I get while I'm there.
I see people do miraculous, courageous, ridiculous stuff every single day. I am constantly in awe of my clients' ability to confront intense anxiety, take it on, and then thoroughly defeat it. The strength it takes to daily live with this level of anxiety is mind-blowing.
But then you go to the conference. WOW!! I know it can take weeks or months to get into see me or one of my colleagues. I know all of us who treat OCD commiserate about how there is only one of us to go around, and how devastating it is to tell someone they're going to have to wait. And then you meet people at the conference who literally have no therapists who treat OCD in their state, or who have only just this month figured out it is OCD. And there here!
Making the trek to another state is incredible. But the magic that happens once they arrive and are among "their people" is even more incredible.
I recall Jon Grayson once explaining that a client can ride the wave for a year after the conference. I don't doubt it.

And I am SO excited that the 2020 Conference will be in Seattle!!!  What a blessing. I have been looking forward to this for two years. I can't wait to welcome all my OCD-related friends to our home town. I can't wait for all my clients to experience what just a few have been able to see.