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ADAA’s webinars offer evidence-based content for both of our public and professional communities. Presenting a professional or a public webinar is a wonderful way to share your expertise and promote your practice or research.

ADAA members and nonmembers are eligible to present webinars.

ADAA offers a $200 honorarium for live or recorded webinar content of 45 minutes+. Read more about ADAA’s honorarium policy.

Professional Webinars

ADAA’s professional webinars offer education and training on the most up-to-date evidence-based treatment and best practices for physicians, psychologists, nurses, social workers, counselors, and healthcare workers. 

ADAA is now accepting webinar proposals for either:

• continuing CE/CME credit
• non-CE/CME accredited sessions

To submit a professional webinar proposal, click here.

Public Webinars

ADAA’s public webinars helps to improve the quality of life for those living with anxiety, depression, and co-occurring disorders by providing insight on diagnoses and treatment. ADAA aims to increase access to premiere mental health information and break the stigma surrounding mental health.

To submit a proposal to present a public webinar, click here.

• To learn more about the professional or public webinar submission process, view our Webinar FAQs.  
• To learn more about ADAA's CE/CME Webinar Information and Accreditation Statements, click here.
• If you are not an ADAA member, we invite you to explore the many benefits of becoming a member. Please click here to learn more about ADAA membership.

Watch ADAA's new webinar portal tutorial video for helpful tips on submitting your proposal.

Have a question for ADAA? Please email: [email protected].

Opinions and findings presented in our education programs, including our annual conferences are not necessarily representative of those held by ADAA. 

ADAA values the importance of offering professional and public education that is free from commercial bias. We also recognize that professionals with a vested interest in relevant products, therapies, and treatment models have valuable research and clinical practice experience that is important to share with the mental health professional community. To highlight these perspectives, ADAA offers educational sponsorship opportunities.

Sponsor Spotlight Webinars offers mental health treatment providers from across disciplines the opportunity to share current, innovative research and treatment approaches with ADAA’s professional community. The spotlight webinars are presented by representatives from organizations that support and share ADAA’s mission.  These sponsored webinars are free to all professional registrants and must be vetted and approved by ADAA staff.

Webinar Sponsorship Opportunities - – Reach A Wide Audience

Sponsorship opportunities include logo on webinar web pages and promotion email, recognition and logo on all individual correspondence with participants (invites, reminders, evaluations) and two social media posts.

Sponsor a CE/CME Live ADAA Webinar

Sponsor a 60 minute professional webinar hosted by a mental health professional.

Sponsorship Reach:

• Listed on ADAA's Website - more than 11 million annual unique website visits
• Promotional Email - up to 16,000 direct emails to ADAA's professional network
• Featured in ADAA's Insights newsletter - more than 10,000 subscribers

Host a non CE/CME Sponsor Spotlight Webinars

Host a 30 minute webinar sharing your current, innovative research and treatment approaches with ADAA’s professional community.

Sponsorship Reach:

• Listed on ADAA's Website - more than 11 million annual unique website visits
• Promotional Email - up to 16,000 direct emails to ADAA's professional network
• Featured in ADAA's Insights newsletter - more than 10,000 subscribers
• Listed on ADAA's YouTube Channel @ADAA GotAnxiety - 16.9K Subscribers and over 60K monthly channel views

Please note: The presenter(s) are required to submit a slide presentation to ADAA prior to the live event for approval. Presenters must clearly disclose at the beginning of the presentation any potential conflict of interest and/or commercial support.

The presentation must also include ADAA's disclaimer.

For more information, pricing, and to schedule a sponsored webinar please contact [email protected].

Interested in other sponsorship/advertising opportunities? 

Disclaimer: ADAA does not endorse companies or products. Advertising and sponsorship revenue supports our not-for-profit mission.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by persistent and excessive worry about a number of different things. People with GAD may anticipate disaster and may be overly concerned about money, health, family, work, or other issues. Individuals with GAD find it difficult to control their worry. They may worry more than seems warranted about actual events or may expect the worst even when there is no apparent reason for concern.

GAD is diagnosed when a person finds it difficult to control worry on more days than not for at least six months and has three or more symptoms. This differentiates GAD from worry that may be specific to a set stressor or for a more limited period of time.

GAD affects 6.8 million adults, or 3.1% of the U.S. population, in any given year. Women are twice as likely to be affected. The disorder comes on gradually and can begin across the life cycle, though the risk is highest between childhood and middle age. Although the exact cause of GAD is unknown, there is evidence that biological factors, family background, and life experiences, particularly stressful ones, play a role.

Sometimes just the thought of getting through the day produces anxiety. People with GAD don’t know how to stop the worry cycle and feel it is beyond their control, even though they usually realize that their anxiety is more intense than the situation warrants. All anxiety disorders may relate to a difficulty tolerating uncertainty and therefore many people with GAD try to plan or control situations. Many people believe worry prevents bad things from happening so they view it is risky to give up worry. At times, people can struggle with physical symptoms such as stomachaches and headaches.

When their anxiety level is mild to moderate or with treatment, people with GAD can function socially, have full and meaningful lives, and be gainfully employed. Many with GAD may avoid situations because they have the disorder or they may not take advantage of opportunities due to their worry (social situations, travel, promotions, etc). Some people can have difficulty carrying out the simplest daily activities when their anxiety is severe. While less common, some individuals with anxiety disorders may experience anhedonia, especially if they also have a comorbid depressive disorder. Learn more about symptoms for GAD.

To learn more in-depth about Generalized Anxiety Disorder and treatments, check out ADAA's Patient Guide to Mood and Anxiety Disorders.

ADAA Resources

• What is Anxiety? Video
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) Brochure
• ADAA Board Statement on Trauma - 2023

Webinars:

• Supporting Your Child with Anxiety and/or OCD - Q&A
• Book Conversations - 3 Part Series on Overcoming Anxiety
• Calming the Inner-Chatter of Your Mind
• Thriving with Anxiety and Depression
• What Are Intrusive Thoughts and How Can You Deal with Them?
• Outsmart Your Anxious Brain
• The Mindful Way Through Anxiety
• Get Unstuck from Depression and Anxiety with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
• Building the Confidence to Manage Anxiety, ADHD, and Executive Function

Blogs:

• Hidden Links: The Common Threads of Mental Health Disorders
• Is Your Child Struggling with Anxiety or OCD? Key Ingredients to Help Your Child Succeed
• 5 Tips for How to Know If an Anxiety Therapist Is the Right Fit for You
• Learning to Live Well with Worry
• Why Anxiety Should Not Be Feared
• SSRIs and Benzodiazepines for General Anxiety Disorders (GAD)

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) consists of preoccupation with perceived flaws in one’s physical appearance. People with BDD think they look unattractive, ugly, or even hideous because of the perceived flaws, but in reality the flaws that they perceive are actually nonexistent or only slight. The appearance preoccupations cause significant distress or impairment in daily functioning (usually both).  

BDD has similarities to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); however, there are some important distinctions. Like OCD, people with BDD have obsessions that cause them anxiety and distress, and they try to alleviate their distress by engaging in compulsions (repetitive behaviors). Like OCD, the compulsions do not provide any pleasure. But people with BDD usually have less insight than those with OCD. They are also more likely to experience depression, thoughts that life isn’t worth living, and suicide attempts.

A common misconception about BDD is that it’s about vanity. Although some of the thoughts expressed by people with BDD might be misinterpreted this way, BDD is actually a brain-based disorder that involves abnormalities in visual perception – in how the brain actually sees things. It’s not just about beauty. BDD involves difficult-to-control obsessions and compulsive behaviors that are distressing and/or impairing, and it involves core beliefs of being worthless, unlikeable, or a failure due to the perceived physical flaws.

Common Obsessions in BDD

People with BDD focus on one or more body parts and the belief that they don’t look normal. Although BDD can affect any body part, some of the most common areas of concern are the skin, hair, nose, chin, lips, chest, and legs. The concerns can be related to shape, size, color, position, symmetry, etc. 

Common Compulsions in BDD

BDD compulsions typically have a clear and direct connection to the obsessions. The distressing preoccupations trigger the compulsions. Among the most common compulsions are camouflaging (trying to hide or cover the perceived physical defects), comparing with others, checking mirrors and other reflecting surfaces, seeking cosmetic treatments and surgery, excessive grooming, reassurance-seeking, and touching the perceived flaw to check it. Avoidance is also extremely common among people with BDD, whether it be skipping social events where others could notice the perceived flaw or avoiding work or school. 

When people with BDD engage in compulsions there is no pleasure involved. Individuals with BDD do not want to be doing compulsions, but their fears and anxiety about how they look drive them to perform the compulsions. On average, people with BDD spend an average of 3 to 8 hours a day obsessing about their perceived flaws and a similar amount of time performing BDD compulsive behaviors.  

How is BDD Diagnosed?

Proper diagnosis of BDD by a specialized professional is crucial. It’s not uncommon for BDD to be misdiagnosed as an eating disorder, OCD, social anxiety, or even a psychotic disorder. When a patient isn’t correctly diagnosed, they will be treated for the wrong issue, and therefore the true problem will probably not improve.  

In the United States, diagnosing BDD is based on diagnostic criteria set forth by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Its current edition, the DSM 5-TR, sets forth three primary criteria for the diagnosis of BDD – preoccupation with at least one perceived physical flaw that is minimal or non-observable to others, compulsions due to the preoccupation with perceived physical defects, and the preoccupation causes clinically significant distress or significant impairment in functioning, such as work, school, or social life.  

Who Gets BDD?

• 2.4% of adults in the United States struggle with BDD, almost equally between men and women (DSM-5-TR)
• 9-11% of dermatology patients, 13-15% of cosmetic surgery patients, 20% of rhinoplasty surgery patients, 11% of adult jaw correction surgery patients, and 5-13% of adult orthodontia/cosmetic dentistry patients have BDD (DSM-5-TR)
• Average age of the onset of BDD is 16-17 years old (DSM-5-TR)
• The most common age of onset is 12 or 13
• Two-thirds of people with BDD have onset of BDD before age 18 (DSM-5-TR) 

How is BDD Treated?

One of the major complicating factors when treating BDD is lack of insight. Lack of insight means that most people with BDD think that they really do look ugly. They don’t realize that the physical flaws that they perceive are actually nonexistent or only slight in the eyes of other people. This is why so many people with BDD seek cosmetic treatment (which is almost never helpful) rather than mental health treatment, which is usually effective for BDD. Because BDD is often severe and can lead to suicidal thinking and behavior, it’s important  that a mental health clinician who specializes in BDD be involved in treatment.  

Enhancing motivation is key to starting therapy. Without engagement in the therapeutic process, no progress can be made. Motivational Interviewing can be extremely helpful in this process, as well as recognizing the ambivalence and resistance that’s often present in people with BDD. This work also can aid with keeping a person in treatment if they have setbacks in progress.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)  is the first-line therapy for BDD, with specific protocols for the disorder. This includes psychoeducation, cognitive work on self-defeating thoughts, exposure and ritual prevention, and mirror retraining.  Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), including values-based work, may be helpful when added to CBT, but research studies on the effectiveness of ACT for BDD are extremely limited, and more research studies are needed to see how effective it is for BDD. 

Serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SRIs, SSRIs) are the first-line medication treatment for BDD. SRIs include medications like fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), and escitalopram (Lexapro). These medications usually improve BDD obsessions and compulsive behaviors; reduce distress, anxiety, and depression; and improve functioning. Most people have no side effects, and these medications are not addicting or habit forming. SRIs and CBT can work very well together, and both treatments are recommended together for people who have severe BDD. 

ADAA Resources

• I Am Worth It!, Personal Story 
• BDD, Surgeons, and Surgery: Considerations and Questions to Ask, Blog
• Residential Treatment for Youth with OCD: Answers to Your Top 3 Questions, Blog
• Finding my Own Silver Linings Playbook Through Mental Health Advocacy, Personal Story
• Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and Men: What to Know and How it Differs, Blog
• Beyond Physical Appearance: Understanding Body Dysmorphic Disorder, On Demand Webinar
• Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD): The Disease of Self-Perceived Ugliness and its Relationship to OCD, On Demand Webinar
• What Are the Pandemic Side Effects on Those with BDD and OCD?, Blog
• It's Not Just OCD About Physical Appearance: Understanding Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Blog
• Does Media Induce Individuals with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) To Have Plastic Surgery? Blog
• Mirror, Mirror on the Wall…You Are the Ugliest of All Says Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), Blog

Trending Articles:

• Skin Dysmorphia Is a Very Real Mental Health Concern, Well + Good, Katherine Phillips, MD 
• This New Disney Film Is Tackling The Important Subject Of Body Dysmorphia, Women's Health
• Teenagers, Social Media, & Body Dysmorphia, Her Campus
• I’m A Black Woman Living With Body Dysmorphia — & It’s Hell On Earth, Refinery 29
• Could Your Teen Have Body Dysmorphic Disorder? How To Recognize The Signs, Scary Mommy
• Why Men Experience Body Dysmorphic Disorder and What Is It?, The Good Men Project
• “My face looked wrong”: What it's like living with body dysmorphic disorder, Salon
• Body Dysmorphic Disorder: A Modern Fear of Our Own Image, Psychology Today
• Do I have Body Dysmorphic Disorder?  These are the signs and symptoms to look out for, Cosmopolitan