One of the most impressive things about cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) is that it was designed to change and to be changed by advances in science. This presentation will highlight in two domains how reports and comments from individuals struggling with OCD, advances in theory, and laboratory experiments have helped to shape improvements in our understanding and ability to treat OCD, moving forward from older behavioural treatments to modern cognitive approaches focusing on two belief domains. Early research on memory deficits in OCD and reports of those with lived experience led to experiments which shaped our understanding of the role of memory (and of memory confidence) in OCD. These in turn led to detailed examinations of psychological mechanisms underlying memory-related beliefs, confidence, doubt and compulsive checking, which have now been shown to be helpful in treatment. Other belief domains will be highlighted as potentially fruitful, including novel and recent experimental work on beliefs about losing control, and of their potential to improve our understanding and treatment not only of OCD, but also of a wide range of other mental health problems.

Research Paper Referenced: Fear of Losing Control

Professor Adam Radomsky is Professor of Psychology at Concordia University, and also the OCD-UK overseas ambassador. He joined Concordia in 2001 after the completion of his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of British Columbia and a fellowship at Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital. Professor Radomsky is the Director of the Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Laboratory, and a Core Member of the Centre for Clinical Research in Health (CCRH). His research investigates cognitive, behavioural and emotional aspects of OCD and a number of other anxiety disorders, as well as ways to enhance the effectiveness and acceptability of cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders and related problems.