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Events

Local Events

OCD Walk 2024

OCD Arizona will be hosting our second annual OCD Walk on October 12th at Kiwanis Park in Tempe. Last year, our first ever OCD Walk was a great success, and we are looking forward to continuing to grow our local support and community. The walk is open to all, including those with OCD, their loved ones, and providers. For more information and to register for the walk, please use the link below. If you have any question, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We look forward to seeing you there!

Special Thank You to our 2024 OCD Walk Gold Sponsors!

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OCD Walk 2023

On Sunday, October 15th, 2023, nearly 150 walkers gathered at Kiwanis Park for the One Million Steps for OCD Walk, hosted by OCD Arizona. The OCD Walk is a national community engagement event that allows individuals across the country to connect, raise funds and awareness around OCD, and build a sense of community. All funds raised go a long way in allowing both the International OCD Foundations and OCD Arizona to provide help, healing, and hope to ensure no one affected by OCD suffers alone. This was Arizona’s first ever OCD walk, and we are so grateful to everyone who helped to make it the great succes that it was. OCD Arizona is looking forward to creating more opportunities to facilitate community, educate providers, and improve support and awareness around OCD.

IOCDF Events

IOCDF offers a variety of in-person and virtual events for all members of the OCD community. Explore the events calendar here.

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Donations

OCD Arizona is made possible through the generosity of donors. We truly appreciate your donations. If you would like to donate to the OCD Arizona, you may do so here.

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Finding a Provider

Finding a provider that specializes in OCD treatment can make a huge difference in your recovery journey. The IOCDF has a provider search option you can use to help narrow down your search. Find more information here.

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Volunteer with OCD Arizona

OCD Arizona cannot exist without the generosity of our community volunteering their time and resources. Volunteers are an important part of our team and help us in many ways. Volunteering is also a great way to feel connected to the community. We appreciate everyone who gives us the gift of their time. If you are interested in learning about volunteer opportunities with OCD Arizona, please email us at [email protected].

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Contact Us

We would love to hear from you! We are a volunteer-run group, and we appreciate support and input. Please feel free to contact us via email, and we will do our best to get back to you within the week. Thank you!

Email: [email protected]

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Board of Directors

Kristin Mervich, LCSW

President and Co-founder

Kristin Mervich is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in private practice in Arizona, specializing in evidenced-based treatment for OCD and anxiety disorders. Her graduate internship at The Center for Anxiety & OCD at Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital in Illinois set Kristin up for a life-long passion of treating OCD and anxiety disorders. When she moved to Arizona in 2018, she quickly saw a large gap in resources for anxiety and OCD within the state and has been motivated to do as much as possible to close that gap since then.

Bridget Henry, Ph.D.

Vice President and Co-founder

Dr. Bridget Henry is a Clinical Psychologist in private practice, specializing in evidence-based treatment for OCD and anxiety disorders. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the McLean OCD Institute in Houston, where she gained experience in residential and outpatient care for severe and complex cases of OCD and anxiety disorders. She has presented several times at the annual IOCDF conferences, and she is passionate about helping to build resources and community for individuals with OCD.

Jennifer Dvoskin, PsyD

Treasurer

Dr. Jennifer Dvoskin is a clinical psychologist, licensed in Arizona since 2009 and licensed in Mississippi since 2023.  She has been in private practice since 2010, specializing in psychotherapy for teenagers and young adults. Dr. Dvoskin has specialty training in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in adolescents, Exposure-Response Prevention in the treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and other anxiety disorders, and family-based therapy for the treatment of Anorexia Nervosa. She has completed specialty training through the Child Trauma Academy, Brene Brown’s Daring Way Curriculum, and the University of Arizona’s Integrative Medicine program. She also has experience working with elite athletes at the High School and College levels. Her exceptional work in private practice earned her the Arizona Psychological Foundation’s Outstanding Early Career Psychologist award in 2014, as well as being named one of Tucson’s 40 Under 40 Rising Stars, and more recently, the Southern Arizona Peter Attarian Award in 2023.

Kimberly Theissen, PsyD

Secretary

Allison Solomon, Psy.D.

General Board Member

Dr. Solomon is a licensed psychologist and founder of The Virtual Center for Anxiety & OCD. Dr. Solomon’s expertise in evidence-based treatment is nationally recognized, as she serves as faculty for the IOCDF’s Behavior Therapy Training Institute. She is the co-founder of the OCD Specialist Facebook group with over 4000 providers. Dr. Solomon provides virtual treatment to children, teens, adults, and families in over 40 states as a member of PsyPACT. Dr. Solomon specializes in evidence-based treatment and has spent more than 20 years treating anxiety, OCD, and related disorders. Dr. Solomon frequently presents at the annual IOCDF conferences and she also enjoys providing training as well as group and individual consultation to other professionals.

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Who We Are

Our Mission

OCD Arizona aims to build awareness, resources, and education for individuals, their support system, and providers in Arizona who are impacted by OCD.

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Join the IOCDF

OCD Arizona is an affiliate of the International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation (IOCDF). The IOCDF helps support the programming and operations of its affiliates, including OCD Arizona. The IOCDF also offers a wide variety of resources for individuals affected by OCD and related disorders, as well the professionals that treat them.

To learn more about membership of the IOCDF, please visit https://iocdf.org/get-involved/membership/

What is OCD?
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What is OCD?

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental health disorder that affects people of all ages and walks of life, and occurs when a person gets caught in a cycle of obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images, or urges that trigger intensely distressing feelings. Compulsions are behaviors an individual engages in to attempt to get rid of the obsessions and/or decrease distress.

Most people have obsessive thoughts and/or compulsive behaviors at some point in their lives, but that does not mean that we all have “some OCD.” In order for a diagnosis of OCD to be made, this cycle of obsessions and compulsions must be so extreme that it consumes a lot of time (more than an hour every day), causes intense distress, or gets in the way of important activities that the person values.

Click here for more information about OCD and related disorders.