The Houston OCD Program Blog

by Ivy Ruths, Ph.D By 12 to 13 months, most infants will have already uttered their first words and by five years of age, children can understand more than 2,000 words. This is the average developmental trajectory for language development; however, in very rare cases a child that has established these milestones and can communicate perfectly well through spoken language, … Read More

Thank you to everyone who joined the 1 Million Steps 4 OCD Walk! Many cities from coast to coast participated in this walk, including Houston, Austin, Sacramento, and Boston! This walk raises awareness and funding to benefit the International OCD Foundation. This walk commemorates Denis Asselin’s journey from Cheyney, PA to Boston, MA. Denis walked over 500 miles, about one … Read More

Through unrelenting hard work, a former client continues her journey to overcome specific phobia and OCD through ERP. Enter my mid-twenties. Diagnosed with Rapid Cycling Bi-Polar Disorder, Generalized Anxiety, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). I didn’t want to leave the house, I was terrified of everything. My moods were all over the place, extreme highs, extreme lows. I started noticing … Read More

A former client shares her intimate journey overcoming specific phobia and OCD. Through a two-part blog series, she shares her challenges, hard work, and how she ultimately overcame her anxiety.             Many patients feel that therapy saved their life. In some cases, that’s true, in a way. Now they have a better life, a happier life, … Read More

We are pleased to announce that the Houston OCD Program will attend the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) conference this year. Our Behavior Therapist Dr. Ivy Ipkeme Ruths, PhD, will host a workshop Saturday, April 8 at 4:30 PM, titled, “Distinguishing between OCD, OCPD, and ASD: An Interactive, Skills Acquisition Workshop,” which will focus on differential diagnosis between … Read More

Year 2 WOW I just remembered today that it has been two years since I left for Houston, TX and went to treatment at the Houston OCD Program! I can’t believe it… feels like yesterday! I think of those first few weeks so vividly I was petrified! I thought I was “crazy” and was never going to get better. I … Read More

Perfectionism can interfere significantly in the lives of children, particularly in the academic domain. There are several signs that your child may suffer from perfectionism. First, if your child takes much longer than normal with homework assignments, perfectionism could be at play. How long homework “should” take may be difficult to gauge, so it can be helpful to check in … Read More

  The Houston OCD Program was excited to partner with the International OCD Foundation to host yet another Behavior Therapy Training Institute (BTTI). The BTTI is an intensive three-day training on OCD and related disorders. The training took place April 22nd-24th and 30 clinicians from all over the United States attended as well as three international therapists, from Spain and … Read More

Welcoming a new child into your family can give rise to a variety of different emotions, ranging from excitement to fear and anxiety. For some new parents, the upcoming birth of a child can give rise to a number of concerns and welcoming a new baby can be particularly difficult if a history of OCD or another anxiety disorder is … Read More