Are the hosts therapists?
No the meeting hosts are not therapists and are not medically trained. They are volunteers or work for OCD-UK who have lived experienced of OCD who can provide support or guidance to assist you in accessing the appropriate treatment or services you may require.
Occasionally, we may have a guest speaker or host who is a medically trained therapist with experience of OCD or related conditions who can offer general guidance during the session. All volunteers and employees of OCD-UK have received DBS checks and safeguarding training.
Are the Zoom OCD support group meetings free?
Yes they are completely free of charge to attend.
How often do I need to attend?
You can attend as many meetings as you wish. Whether that be for one meeting or all of them. There are a variety of times and days to suit everyone.
I’m under 18, can I participate in the meetings?
The support group zoom meetings are for over 18’s only. However, we will be holding some separate meetings especially for under 18’s (11-18 years) that you can participate in (parental/guardian consent is required).
I’ve never attended a support group before (in person/virtual meeting), can I still join?
Yes absolutely! No previous attendance of support groups is required. Everyone is welcome!
I’m from overseas, can I attend the meetings?
The OCD-UK online support groups are funded through the UK government, the ‘Coronavirus Mental Health Response Fund’ which is being administered by the mental health charity Mind to enable OCD-UK to provide online support groups for people with OCD across the UK. Because our charity is only funded to offer services for UK residents and advice offered will be UK specific, we are unable to make the groups available to anybody living outside the UK at this time.
Do I need to be on camera during the meetings?
We do encourage all users to be on camera, as this helps normalise the meeting and people feel more relaxed in seeing each other. However, if you don’t feel confident to remain on the camera, some people start the meeting on camera and wave at the introductions and then turn their camera off. This is fine if you feel more relaxed, but our meetings are primarily designed to be face-to-face rather than telephone meetings.
Though, we do appreciate that there may be some circumstances due to safeguarding issues where it is not possible for you to be on camera. In these circumstances, please send us an email to let us know and we can offer you support to ensure you still get the maximum benefit from the meetings
Do I need to talk during the meetings?
You are under no obligation to talk; many first-time users prefer to sit and watch/listen the first time they join one of our meetings.
I’ve lost my registration link to access the meeting, what do I do?
If you do lose this you can either re-register or email us (at least two hours before the meeting) and we will resend you the link.
I cannot see the registration link on the webpage, why not?
In some circumstances, we may need to remove the registration link before the meeting if there is a high volume of registrations. This it to ensure that the participant numbers are kept to a level which allows everyone the opportunity to fully engage and participate within the 60-90 minutes session.
