Recently, I had my first official day of my OCD-intensive program at the Behavioral Medicine Institute. I missed the group part, unfortunately, because I didn’t know where it was held and it only lasted five minutes as a check-in for some reason. Now I know where the group meets, though, and i’ll be sure to be there for the group part next time. Maybe it will be a bit longer then because people will be introducing themselves.
So I went to a private room and waited for a therapist to come greet me. The way it works is there are three therapists in charge of six patients who are there from the 10 a.m. to noon slot. Each therapist is supervising two patients for the day, and they go back and forth between us.
Then we also have a few meetings a week with our primary therapist — the person who formulates our treatment goals and talks with us about our treatment plans and progress. Basically, the program is where we do the work (exposure and response prevention), and we do the talking with our primary therapist.
While I was waiting for the therapist to come greet me, I was greeted by a very friendly girl who looked to be a few years older than me. She poked her head in the room, asked me if I was new and then enthusiastically introduced herself. She then said, “You look scared. Don’t be! The first week is just orientation stuff, and everyone is really great.” This made me feel so much better and made me feel welcome as well.
I met one of the therapists, and she went in and out of the room while I was working on the worksheets she gave me. One worksheet was on my long-term goals and treatment goals, and another was on how my OCD affects me now and will effect me in the future (such as one year, five years, 20 years).
The therapist was nice, my tics were very low and I didn’t have to do anything challenging just yet. A good first day. Hopefully I will like the group next time when I meet them, and hopefully it won’t get too challenging just yet!
