Curated Guide for Professionals

The Behavior Therapy Training Institute (BTTI) is an in-depth three-day (or five-day, if held virtually) intensive training course in exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), a form of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), for mental health professionals who are treating individuals with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders. Led by a world-renowned faculty, the BTTI was developed to help address the shortage of therapists properly trained in using CBT to treat OCD around the country and the world.

In addition to the flagship General BTTI and our Pediatric-focused BTTIs, the IOCDF annually hosts the BTTI for Treating OCD in Communities of Color, a training for BIPOC clinicians and taught by BIPOC faculty, and the BTTI Virtual en Español, conducted entirely in Spanish.

Learn more about IOCDF Training Institute
Sign up for BBTI Training with the IOCDF
On-Demand Webinar Series from the IOCDF

Advanced Training in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) for OCD. Is it time to take your ERP skills to the next level? Are you ready to dive deeper into exposure methods, like imaginal exposure and post-exposure processing, to make them more targeted and effective? Have you struggled with differentiating suicidal or homicidal thoughts from harm obsessions? This advanced-level workshop is intended for mental health providers who have already completed a foundational training in Exposure and Response Prevention for OCD, and are now ready to level up their skills! We will zero in on popular special topics in OCD treatment, from differential diagnosis with difficult comorbid problems like eating disorders, all the way through specific exposure methods for tricky OCD areas, including perfectionism, scrupulosity, sexual obsessions, and health anxiety.

Sign up for Advanced Training in ERP for OCD

Natasha Daniels’ AT Parenting Community offers online support and resources for parents along with therapists. Check out AT Parenting Therapist Membership which includes: Monthly therapist instructional video on child anxiety or OCD themes, monthly therapist child therapy worksheet on anxiety or OCD to use in your practice, commercial rights to use Natasha’s courses in your practice, as well as all the worksheets & member videos. In addition to the member-only parent Facebook group & site forums, you get access to a therapist-only Facebook group & forums.

Natasha Daniels’ AT Parenting Survival School offers a course for therapists who are looking to expand their expertise in childhood anxiety & OCD. Do you wish you had some quick guidance on how to treat anxiety and OCD in kids? Do you wish you had easy, creative handouts at your disposal to give to kids? With this course, you’ll have access to 21 instructional videos, over 8 hours of video offering clinical guidance and support, 16 worksheets to print out and use on an ongoing basis, and more.

Led by Dr. Melissa Magaro, this on-demand webinar will provide you with an understanding of the theoretical model of OCD and evidence-based practice to effectively treat OCD. This training will help you understand how to conceptualize client concerns utilizing the Cognitive Model, plan treatment based on an individualized case formulation, establish a supportive therapeutic relationship, and collaboratively develop Action Plans. You will learn how to utilize evidence-based cognitive and behavioral strategies to help clients identify and respond adaptively to key thoughts and beliefs, build mindfulness skills, engage in exposure exercises, eliminate safety behaviors, and reduce obsessions, compulsions, and avoidance behaviour.

Inference-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (I-CBT) targets the intrusive thoughts typical of OCD by addressing the distress caused by hypothetical scenarios that lead to imagined dangers. A trained therapist in I-CBT will guide a patient in differentiating between obsessive thoughts and reality, ultimately helping them regain confidence in their perceptions. If you are a mental health professional and looking to learn more, review the listings on I-CBT’s “Consultation and Training” page with professionals that offer consultations and training in I-CBT.

SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) aims to treat children and adolescents with anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder. These 2-day workshops for therapists, taught by Dr. Eli Lebowitz of the Yale Child Study Center, will cover all the essentials of delivering SPACE in a reliable and effective manner and are geared toward intermediate or advanced clinicians. The workshops will include case presentation, video excerpts, and simulations of treatment components. Continuing Education hours are available for workshop participants.

SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) aims to treat children and adolescents with anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Therapists and patients alike frequently seek a means of establishing and documenting competency in the delivery of SPACE treatment. The process starts with an initial application and a screening interview with a certified SPACE supervisor. Applicants must be licensed mental health providers in their area, have experience working with relevant clinical populations, and have attended a (2-day or more) SPACE training workshop.

Through educational initiatives like its annual conference, informational sessions, and training workshops, Sunnybrook’s Frederick W. Thompson Anxiety Disorders Centre advances and shares knowledge of OCD and related disorders with healthcare professionals. These programs aim to build capacity within care networks and strengthen expertise in delivering evidence-based, first-line OCD treatment in community settings.