On 25th May I got a call from my awesome friend and IOCDF lead advocate, Ethan Smith, to tell me I’d won the 2024 IOCDF Hero Award, and last week I headed to Florida to accept it.
It’s really hard to put into words what this has all meant to me, but I’ll give it a good go.
When I was really poorly after having my son, I found the IOCDF. It was a time when I was in crisis, not eating or sleeping, and I felt completely alone in the world. The IOCDF’s website was a lifeline for me.
I’ve benefited so much from their work over the years. They are an incredible organisation.
So, receiving this award from them means everything to me.
I spent four days having the most incredible time: meeting people I’ve worked beside and friends for the first time in person, learning about new research and resources alongside many other wonderful things.
This blog is designed to fill you in on:
The conference
My experiences of travelling
New friends and advocates
New resources
I hope you find it helpful!
The IOCDF Conference
The Conference itself is incredible. From eight in the morning until five/six in the evening there were talks about literally anything and everything OCD by research specialists, mental health professionals and advocates.
The conference also covers related disorders too so there were sessions on PANS/PANDAS, Body Focussed Repetitive Behaviours, and loads more.
Outside of the sessions, there were a wide range of activities running through break, lunch, and in the evenings. These ranged from support groups to social groups to local ERP walks to comedy sessions... the list goes on and on!
It’s a testament to the IOCDF that over 2300 people attended with a large majority of those being in person (they also offer a hybrid package where people can watch online).
It’s hard to describe how wonderful it is to see so many people in person for the first time. Especially when many of those people have helped me in my recovery - I fan-girled over Jon Hershfield with such enthusiasm it’s a wonder he didn’t run away! :)
The IOCDF have a full calendar of free events that can be accessed here. If you fancy learning more about next years conference in Chicago, take a look here.
Overcoming Fear of Travelling Alone
I have always struggled with longer distance travelling. I’d get such bad panic attacks that for most of my life, I just didn’t do it. I managed (ish) when I was with other people but couldn't manage it alone. I missed out on a lot of opportunities and a whole heap of fun. I once managed to travel to Brighton from my house (a total of two hours on the train) to visit my sister but it was an extremely uncomfortable trip and I panicked the whole way and dreaded the way back.
Managing to travel to Florida by myself (especially knowing I was going to give a speech there) was a huge victory for the recovery work I’ve put in over the past decade. It has taken me a very long time to gradually expose myself to new challenges and journeys. If I plotted it all on an exposure ladder it would have soooo any rungs. In fact, watch this space, that’s a great idea for a blog.
I’m at the point now where excitement and sometimes boredom wins when I’m travelling and that feels like a huge privilege to me. It really is exposure and practice that has gotten me to this point.
Thanks to recovery work, I also know myself well now, and so I knew when it was time to step back and chill in my room or head up to bed. I know my boundaries - again, through practice - and what happens when I continue to push through them, and this allowed me to have a consistently wonderful time when I was out there. Just as a side note this months newsletter comes with a resource to help you identify and address feelings of overwhelm so please remember to sign up at tamingoliva.com or if you have already signed up, to check your inboxes.
Hanging with friends
I honestly had the time of my life hanging out with so many people who just ‘get’ OCD. It didn’t matter if I was talking to people who I’d been good friends with for years or people I’d just met; we all understood OCD and supported each other. It was a wonderful experience.
Exploring the area with other people was one of my favourite parts of the weekend away too. We visited Ihop, Chick-fil-A, and what we thought was Dave and Busters, but it turned out to be something called The Main Event, much to the confusion of everyone we told to meet us in Dave and Busters. I was such a tourist, and I loved every second.
I met so many new advocates and professionals working in OCD treatment and awareness. There are way too many to mention here, but do have a look through the people I follow on social media accounts; you’ll find them all there. There are also loads of pics and tags across my most recent social media posts, so you can find many of them there.
New Information and Contacts
I learned so much about new support groups and resources, and even more about the ones I’d previously heard of. I’ll list some of them here, and they will live on the Info and Resources pages, so please remember to check out the other bits on that page. For full transparency, these are all personal recommendations. These mentions aren’t sponsored or paid for - I just think they’re wonderful.
So here we go:
Not Alone Notes - This charity sends notes of hope written by people with OCD, for those with OCD. It’s a wonderful drive.
Erika McCoy - Runs the Creative Special Interest Group (SIG) for the IOCDF. She is dedicated and has wonderful ideas.
The Integrative Centre for OCD - for full transparency Stu and Jonny have been good friends of mine for years. But knowing who they are as people, and the way they work, means that I have no hesitation pointing people their way. They are incredible and the first place I would send my loved ones if they needed support. They do 1-2-1 sessions, lower cost group sessions and are now seeing children from the age of seven so please contact them for more information.
Dr Jenny Yip - I’ve followed Jenny for years and she has a new book out for new mums dealing with intrusive thoughts. You can get it here.
How to Defeat the Bully Brain - I met writer Ella Kim at the conference. She’s a child who has experienced OCD and her book is just wonderful. You can check it out here.
Jack Mental Health Advocacy - this wonderful charity run by Kim Vincenty has co-designed the Fearless range with Natural Life. It’s a give back range that is designed to help people learn about anxiety and stop them feeling alone. You can find out more here.
Margaret Sisson - Margaret runs Riley’s Wish Foundation, a wonderful advocacy organisation that runs lecture series and loads more. You can learn all about the foundation here.
Uma Chatterjee - Uma does a ton of work around neuroscience and research into the use of psychedelics to treat OCD. She is wonderful! You can learn about her work here.
Anxiety in Athletes - is a special interest group of the IOCDF and is run by the amazing Tom Smalley. Visit the website here.
Alejandro Ibarra - a wonderful OCD therapist based in Spain. Visit his website here.
I'm still a little jet-lagged and I met so many wonderful new people so I may have missed a few. If that's you, please send me an email and let me know. I'll add you straight to the list.
My Speech
A few people have asked to read my speech so here it is!
"I found out I’d won this award when I was at a big family birthday party. Ethan called me and told me and I immediately burst into tears much to the confusion of those sharing a room with me who’d seen me dancing seconds earlier!
I spent the rest of that party in a dream. Just feeling ridiculously honoured and trying to work out how on earth I could put that feeling in words and do it justice.
It’s weeks later and I’m still trying.
OCD and I have a long history. I can't remember a part of my life where it wasn't up to something or other but it hit particularly hard after I had my son. And I will never forget how isolating and frightening that time was. But I got through it and a large part of that is due to the the people sitting in this room. You will never know how much you helped me and I am so thankful.
I am stupidly grateful for this wonderful community; for the support it has given me and the opportunities it has allowed me. I have had the honour of spending the past eight years surrounded by the most fiercely compassionate and inspiring people I could have ever hoped to meet. This community has helped me grow beyond my wildest dreams, it has given me friends for life, and it has extended my family though my three awesome Waving brothers Rolfin, Steve and Ethan.
I owe my thanks to every single OCD advocate and organisation out there but I’d like to give a special mention to Jon Hershfield, who’s writing encouraged me to see my brain as something capable of special things, to Sean Shinnock whose work gave me faith in the ideas behind Taming Olivia, to Ethan whose guidance, support and friendship over the past three years has meant the world to me and to Stuart Ralph, who first introduced me to the OCD community and has been an amazing friend ever since.
I’d like to thank my wonderful husband Pete. Without him Taming Olivia wouldn't exist and I wouldn't be able to do the work I do. He gives everything and asks for nothing - I am so unbelievably grateful for his support and I hope I make him proud.
And I want to say a huge thank you to my not-so-little boy WIlliam for bringing such joy and light to my life every single day and for teaching me that good mums don’t need to be perfect.
Such a lot has changed in the public perception of OCD and I’m both so excited about this, and in awe of the OCD advocates and organisations whose work has got us there. I’m super excited about the future of OCD awareness and I'm proud that I get to stand beside you and be a part of it.
To the wonderful IOCDF, thank you for having me, thankyou for recognising my work, you are an incredible organisation and I feel very lucky to have you fighting in our corner..
Thank you so much for this award, I will treasure it."
Just to Sum Up
It's not lost on me just how lucky and privileged I am to be in this position. To be able to visit America, to have had the support so that I could dedicate time to my advocacy... all of it relies on the kindness and support of others and I am very, very grateful. I want to make sure that I can help others as much as I've been helped over the years so please let me know if you have a certain question about OCD and/or recovery, or want to know about resources/signposting, and I'll do my best to point you in the right direction.
Sending you all loads of love,
Catherine xx
Further Reading
Want to know why some obsessions feel like urges? Read my most read blog here.
Learn more about how to spot sneaky compulsions here.
Is OCD affecting your eyes? Find out more about Visual Tourettic OCD/Staring OCD here.
Taming Olivia Newsletter
We send out a fun community newsletter each month which includes:
Loads of information about up-coming OCD community events
Updates about Taming Olivia and Waving, a film about OCD and Intrusive thoughts that was recently released.
A free, fun and accessible well-being pack which includes ways in which to practice self-care and recovery skills.
Come and join us by signing up at Tamingolivia.com
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