Twice-Per-Week Anxiety Disorders Program

Beyond Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Sky Spectrum Disorders Program

Developed especially for those with:

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
  
• Body Dysmorphic Disorder
  
• Panic Attacks
  
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
  
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder
  
• Phobias
  
• Eating Disorders
  
• Other Anxiety Disorders

Spectrum Disorders Program

The Twice-Per-Week Program integrates the best approaches of Anxiety Disorders at a more convenient pace:

• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy with Dr. Eda Gorbis Ph.D., M.F.C.C.
  Prolonged Exposure and Response Prevention Protocol developed by Edna Foa, Ph.D., author of Stop Obsessing!
  
• Four-Step Method developed by Jeffrey M. Schwartz, MD, author of Brain Lock
  The Spectrum Disorders Program is a semi-intensive approach made to accommodate the professionals and busy individuals that are struggling to deal with or maintaining the level of their disorder.

For eight weeks you will work with the staff to achieve freedom from obsessions and compulsions at the Institute and will agree to complete the assigned daily homework assignments. As in the From Fear to Freedom Program, If you come ready to abolish the OCD, your medical team will be ready to work with you and you will achieve steady success.

The program is individually tailored to your specific needs and conditions. You work one-on-one with a highly trained therapist who will guide you and -- when necessary -- drag you through every step of the process. You will be treated, monitored, and taught by a highly motivated and trained team of experts in psychopharmacology, psychiatry, and cognitive behavioral therapy.

The Four Steps

• Step 1: Relabel
  Recognize the intrusive thoughts and urges as due to OCD.
• Step 2: Reattribute
  Realize that the intensity and intrusiveness of the thought or urge is caused by OCD; it is probably due to a biochemical imbalance in the brain. Remember, "it's not me, it's the OCD."
• Step 3: Refocus
  Work around the OCD thoughts by focussing attention on something else, at least for a few minutes. Do not give in to a compulsion.
• Step 4: Revalue
  Do not take the OCD thought at face value. It is not significant in itself

More about the Four Steps ...

Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy

As we train you to identify OCD-related behavior, exposure and response prevention is designed to break up the maladaptive associations between anxiety, obsessions, and the performance of compulsions in an attempt to get relief from the anxiety.

• We teach you to stay in an OCD situation until discomfort decreases.
  
• We help you concentrate on targeted situations and guide you through each and every one of them.
  
• We repeat the exposures daily using stimuli specifically prepared for you until your distress significantly dissipates.
  
• We increase your mindful awareness by training you to self-monitor and record your rituals.
  

Eight Weeks ... Three Essential Components

Diagnosis

• Evaluation, using scientifically validated rating scales, including the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) and other clinical tools.
  
• Information Gathering.
  
• Assessment.

Treatment

• Exposure and Response Prevention
  
• Four Step Work
  
• Homework

Relapse Prevention Program

• Applying the Tools

Developed Exclusively for the Westwood Institute by Eda Gorbis, PhD, MFCC Clinical Director
Vice-President, Clinical Advisor & Director of Professional Training OC & Spectrum Disorders Association

More about Dr. Gorbis...