In Person Intensive Programme
The OCD Centre Intensive Programme is aimed at people with OCD who wish to learn how to manage their OCD quickly. The clients we most often see on our intensive courses are those who have a particular deadline, e.g. a new job, wedding, birth of baby, holiday or educational course. Some wish to make a swift change due to personal relationships or professional difficulties as a direct result of their OCD. Others are in crisis and have quite simply, had enough.
Whatever the reason, one factor binds our intensives together – the decision to set aside 5 days of their life in return for regaining a happier one in the future. That, and the will and determination to work hard to make significant changes.
We want to be honest, our five day course is hard work. It can be tiring, uncomfortable, intense, emotional and challenging. It can also be stimulating, fulfilling, educational, life-changing and pivotal to a person’s management of OCD.
If you haven’t really decided that you are ready for therapy, have been persuaded by someone other than yourself that this is right for you, are doing it to please your loved ones or are otherwise not 110% committed, then this is not the course for you.
By the time you arrive we will already have taken a detailed assessment, identified your particular issues so that when you arrive we can hit the ground running. As therapists, we roll our sleeves up and work with you, not afraid to tackle those areas most crucial to your recovery. Because we know what OCD feels like, we never ask our clients to do anything we wouldn’t do or haven’t already experienced.
Our course is all about getting your life back. It isn’t solely based in a therapy room which can sometimes seem an artificial environment. It’s true, we do work at our Centre in London, but we are prepared to design work outside the therapy room if it is required. If a client has issues with going to supermarkets, we make sure we discuss with them including that in their Programme. If a client has difficulty using public transport, we encourage them to take the first steps and show them coping skills in advance.
One outcome we have noticed is that the small group format seems much more effective overall, as opposed to the individual courses. We suspect that this is due to the powerful and unquantifiable benefits of having peer support and empathy so we make sure our courses comprise small groups of no more than 3, 4 or 5 in order to gain maximum results. Each group is selected according to their particular OCD symptomology, e.g. contamination, responsibility, etc.
Follow up
Each group will be encouraged to participate in the 9 week follow-up Programme once they leave the intensive course. This is a tele-conference course with a follow-up session of 1.5 hours each week for the first 3 weeks following the course and 3 further fortnightly sessions thereafter.
We have facilities for a therapist to visit a client’s home immediately after the Course in order to facilitate the transfer of newly-learnt skills to the home environment. The Therapist can stay for a few sessions over a number of days. The fee for this service is not included in the Course fee and, since clients have different needs, the fee can be discussed with the Practice Manager. Generally the client will need to cover travel/accommodation expenses (which can be modest) and just the cost of the session time.
What do you receive?
Clients can expect to be involved with the Programme in one way or another for 6+ hours per day with some work running in to the evening.
Programme Supervision
Each group will be led by a Programme Therapist for the majority of the 20 hours of sessions. They will also be an Assistant Therapist who specializes in practical work who will oversee the group outing/event. There will be times when the group is expected to supervise its own homework sessions.
The Programme is not designed to be a residential course. We feel it is most beneficial to recovery that clients live in private and not clinical accommodation since we want to maintain an environment as close to their life as possible.
Outside the therapy sessions, the Programme Therapist is available by telephone 24 hours a day (or in person for emergencies). Our Practice Manager, Chez Payne-Annetts, is available 9:30am – 6:00pm GMT.
Itinerary
We pride ourselves on our tailoring of each course to suit the particular group we are treating but we have a fundamental structure we adhere to which includes vital components to managing OCD.
Benefits
Success rates
All clients ask us the inevitable question of how successful the Programme is and our answer is always, “as successful as you make it”. Although we know that we get positive feedback from our course, we also realise that our role is to design the course, deliver it in the best way we can and offer follow-up and support facilities. However well we do this, it is the case that some of the crucial factors are outside our control, i.e., client commitment to recovery, their consistent presence during the course, their engagement with new concepts, their willingness to do the homework. We know how hard it is to bring all these elements together but we have observed that those clients who try hard, never fail to make improvements. From our experience the factors which tend to determine a successful outcome are:
You will notice that none of the above includes factors such as confidence, academic achievement or professional status as these are not deterministic of outcome.
Expectations
OCD is a lifespan condition so we are aiming for effective management. Additionally, clients may well have had OCD for a number of years so it is unrealistic and naïve to expect a full recovery in 5 days. Some clients do make drastic changes but our goal is for our clients to gain sufficient knowledge and be shown tried and tested techniques for managing their OCD. There is no doubt that there will be opportunity during the course to test these techniques but the real test will be when the client returns home. It is very much like sitting a driving test. The lessons and test prepare you for driving but the real experience is gained after one has passed the test and is out on the road. It can be a daunting experience but it is very much worth it and so becomes a skill for life.
Fees
The fee for the course is £2,000. This includes:
What is not included:
Telephone Intensive Programme
See here how telephone based therapy is shown to be highly beneficial.
The Telephone Intensive Programme is aimed at people with OCD who cannot make it to our practices. These are clients who may be geographically distant, cannot afford the accommodation and travel, find travel difficult, have family or dependents who rely upon them, or can't make the journey for other reasons.
There are some factors to bear in mind, however. Telephone therapy requires the client to carry out tasks by themselves rather than in the presence of a therapist (as is the case with the In-Person Intensive). The Programme is divided into three sectors which are behavioural, cognitive and anxiety management. Cognitive work will include adapting thought processes and behavioural work will require adapting unhelpful behaviours. We have found telephone work to be highly successful but it does depend upon a client's commitment to do behavioural tasks and homework, especially in the case of contamination issues. Many people find they can do both once they have been taught the correct skills. There are some options for those that question their ability to carry out the behavioural tasks. 1. the client can involve a mentor (friend, family or carer) who can attend some sessions and work with them. 2. If the client is based in Europe or the US there exists the possibility of a therapist visiting them at their home to carry out behaviour work when the course has ended.
please note: not all types of OCD require extensive behavioural work, e.g. purely obsessive OCD and so, in this case, the telephone course would be ideal..
Follow up
Each group will be encouraged to participate in the 9 week follow-up Programme once they leave the intensive course. This is a tele-conference course with a follow-up session of 1.5 hours each week for the first 3 weeks following the course and 3 further fortnightly sessions thereafter.
We have facilities for a therapist to visit a client’s home immediately after the Course to help them put their newly-learnt skills into practice. The Therapist can stay for a few sessions over a number of days. The fee for this service is not included in the Course fee and, since clients have different needs, the fee can be discussed with the Practice Manager. Generally the client will need to cover travel/accommodation expenses (which can be modest) and just the cost of the session time.
Format
The Programme is condensed into the following:
Clients can expect to be involved with the Programme in one way or another for 5+ hours per day with homework set for each evening.
Programme Supervision
Each group will be led by a Programme Therapist.
Outside the therapy sessions, the Programme Therapist is available by telephone 24 hours a day. Our Practice Manager, Chez Payne-Annetts, is available 9:30am – 6:00pm GMT.
Itinerary
We pride ourselves on our tailoring of each course to suit the particular group we are treating but we have a fundamental structure we adhere to which includes vital components to managing OCD. Please click here to see the Intensive Programme Itinerary
Benefits
Success rates
See above.
Expectations
See above.
Fees
The fee for the course is £1,475. This includes:
Fee’s for the follow-up courses are not included but are heavily discounted at £35 per session.
What is not included:
| LOGIN/REGISTER |
