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May 21, 2021

OCD Treatment at the Farm

“I have seen a lot of benefit from the ERP. There are things I am still working on but I have made so much progress. It’s hard work, but it works, I am proof of that.” – Wes H, Hopewell Resident

“At first it seemed it was unnecessarily difficult, and I didn’t like it. But then over time as the habituation process took hold, my anxiety reactions slowly became less intense, and I could see and feel the benefit immensely!” – Jackson B, Hopewell Resident

Hopewell has been exploring the viability of treating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and related disorders utilizing the treatment modality of Exposure & Response Prevention therapy (ERP). This initiative came out of our discussions with Dr. Paul Keck from the Lindner Center of Hope during his evaluation of our clinical program and capabilities in November of 2018. Subsequently, we contracted with Charles Brady, PhD to consult with us. Dr. Brady was the Clinical Director of Outpatient Services and the Director of the OCD & Anxiety Program at Lindner Center of Hope and is now the Director of Kitsap Peninsula OCD & Anxiety Services in Washington State.

After Dr. Brady visited the farm on a couple of occasions it was determined that including individuals with OCD and related disorders would be an excellent fit for our therapeutic community model of residential treatment.

Dr. Brady has worked with our clinical team to implement a comprehensive ERP program at Hopewell including providing three hours of ERP therapy a day. There are five ERP groups per week, individual ERP sessions, and ERP opportunities during work crews and on their own as homework assignments. We have implemented this new program with four of our current residents who have co-occurring OCD diagnoses or traits.

This pilot program was initiated with our first ERP group on March 2, 2021 and will continue for 90 days. It has been going very well and we anticipate being ready to formally start admitting individuals with a primary diagnosis of OCD and related disorders by early summer.