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Check out our ADAA members' new books that offer help for the public and support for professionals.

Often times, people struggling to move on from a breakup inadvertently act in ways that amplify their emotions of love towards the person, but these urges usually make us feel worse in the long term. So, what can we do? Enter “Opposite Action.”

To change societal perceptions towards OCD, we must first understand what those perceptions are. The purpose of this post is to share key takeaways regarding pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) perceptions of and stigmas towards OCD, and how we can increase awareness within our schools and communities.

You could not be happier for your child/nibling/client. They’ve finally made it to grade 12 and have been wanting to leap into their future for ages. You thought now would be a quiet and calm few months as they wait to hear back, but instead it seems as though their anxiety is reaching new heights. Should you be concerned?

Fear is one of the six basic human emotions, with a clear evolutionary purpose: to help us respond to danger and survive. In Exposure Therapy, providers create a safe environment to intentionally “expose” their clients to objects, activities, or situations they fear.

Limit the depth of exposure to details. People can consume news in limited ways. In other words, learn what’s happening, then stop there. Avoid the urge for disaster voyeurism. If you have heard the story, you might not need to search for the images or the videos; if you have seen them, there is no need to revisit them over and over.

In the face of a perceived threat, your body often activates a fight-or-flight response. Heart in your throat. Butterflies in your stomach.

Panic isn’t what you think it is. It’s not an attack at all, and that’s a misleading name for it. It’s you having an internal reaction of fear – your heart rate changes, your muscles tense up, your stomach feels bad, you have scary thoughts of calamities, and so on.

In collaboration with The Reach Institute, Dr. Wallace explains how parents can decrease the impact of anxiety on children and teens to help them function their best and find more joy in their lives.

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the term social anxiety has been thrown around as a catchall for the discomfort many felt as restrictions lifted and we began to resume our lives. However, it too can oversimplify the greater intensity of anxiety, and associated impact, experienced by those with Social Anxiety Disorder.

As COVID restrictions get a little less and less frigid with the ongoing vaccination campaigns, a lot of us are very excited to resume some of our normal work and social life. At the same time, we may experience a burst of anxiety as we start to get out of quarantine-- after all, it’s been a really long time, right?!  To help ease up that anxious feeling, Dr. Carmichael has packaged some of her favorite pointers into an easy-to-remember acronym of S.U.N. to help you cope!

Many mental health professionals are now conducting patient visits virtually. I am one of the only psychologists left in my building who has stayed behind to continue in-person work while abiding by COVID protocols. Since our practice specializes in refractory OCD spectrum disorders and anxiety disorders a lot of the work done at our outpatient clinic requires in-vivo exposures, which cannot be replicated on Zoom.