SHU Professor Writes Book To HelpThose With OCD Take Control Of Symptoms

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Christina Taylor, a psychology professor at Sacred Heart University, has published a book about treating and working with people who have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), titled “OCD: A Workbook for Clinicians, Children and Teens; Actions to Beat, Control & Defeat Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.”

Christina Taylor calls her book "a detailed guide on the treatment of OCD.”
Photo Credit: *Contributed*

Nicole Briggs

06/21/2016 2:30 p.m.

Taylor’s book is a guide for clinicians and non-clinicians on treating and working with OCD patients. Taylor spent years researching OCD which affects 2.3 percent of Americans, while successfully treating numerous patients in her private practice.

“There aren’t that many people with specialized training on OCD,” said the Fairfield resident and SHU graduate, who has been teaching at the University for the past 40 years. “This is a detailed guide on the treatment of OCD that is much needed.”

The book includes step-by-step worksheets, exercises and strategies for overcoming the symptoms of OCD, such as worrisome thoughts, perfectionism and hoarding. It also includes relaxation and thinking skills to manage anxiety.

While research on OCD has come a long way since the 1980s, when the disorder wasn’t recognized in any visible way, Taylor said, a stigma still surrounds it, as well as all mental illnesses.

“People didn’t know how prevalent it was or how to treat it,” she said. “There are now evidence-based therapies for anxiety disorders and OCD.”

Taylor facilitates the Fairfield County OCD Support Group that meets monthly at the First Congregational Church in Fairfield. The group, which celebrated their 10th anniversary in September, is open to all individuals dealing with OCD.

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