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Dr. Simpson recalls good sources on obsessive compulsive disorder/OCD that women can access to learn more about this condition.
Dr. Simpson:
One of the things that I recommend to people is that if they are considering cognitive behavioral therapy for OCD, the first thing they do is read a book called “Stop Obsessing.” And it’s a book that you can get in a local bookstore, and it’s paperback, and it’s probably something like $15.00. And the reason why is it really describes exactly what the cognitive behavioral therapy is. And I say to people, if you know what you should be getting, then if you go see a therapist and this isn’t what they offer to you or what they say they do, then you shouldn’t be going back. But also, this is a therapy you want to prepare yourself for. So if you can’t imagine yourself doing this therapy, then it doesn’t make a lot of sense to go to a therapist and be spending money to not do it.
So I think it’s really useful for people to really understand what it is. The nice thing about the book too is it starts with sort of, “What can you do on your own?” And so, for people who have milder symptoms, who want to see how much they can do on their own, it gives you sort of a manual or an idea of how you would do that.
About Dr. Simpson, M.D., Ph.D.:
Helen Blair Simpson, M.D., Ph.D., an expert on obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), is an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University, New York City, where she directs the Anxiety Disorders Clinic and OCD Research Program at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. She was a member of the work group that developed the first “Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Patients With OCD” for the American Psychiatric Association.
Through her research, Dr. Simpson is working to trace the brain circuits believed to play a major role in the development of obsessions and compulsions, and she has developed novel approaches to treatment. Her research has been supported by a NARSAD Young Investigator grant.
Visit Dr. Simpson at Columbia University Medical Center