<p>Anyone else watching this? </p>
<p>Much to my shock, the psychologist on the show is INCREDIBLY impressive, and he seems firmly grounded in evidence-based treatment. He’s ABPP (prestigious psychology boarding), has had multiple R01’s (major NIH research grants), and has published about 110 articles/book chapters in past 15 years (…which is nearly unheard of in terms of research productivity). He runs a major anxiety disorder treatment center, teaches at Yale mead school, and judging from what I’ve seen on show (in my admittedly very limited ability to judge such things), he’s a REALLY, REALLY good clinician/therapist. Um, yeah, he’s pretty much amazing and totally inspiring from a professional standpoint.</p>
<p>As for the show itself, it’s basically showing 6 people with OCD as they go through intensive exposure/ritual prevention (ERP) treatment for 3 weeks. The general premise is that they expose the people to their fears/triggers and prevent them from engaging in their compulsions. A lot of the exposures they do on the show seem to pretty intense (e.g., eating scones out of a toilet, holding a knife to the psychologist’s wrist, etc), so it’s interesting viewing that is still actual, scientifically-based treatment. I’ve really been enjoying it, especially because the psychologist on it is ultra-responsive to viewer questions about the show and–because being that the people on the show has obviously waived confidentiality–he can freely, ethically discuss those clients and their treatment.</p>
<p>I will say that the show has probably unrealistically increased my expectations for my future clinical supervisors in grad school and that Tolin’s (the chief psychologist) publication record makes me feel sort of unproductive as researcher! ;)</p>
<p>The show’s site (includes past episodes): [The</a> OCD Project | Show Cast, Episodes, Guides, Trailers, Web Exclusives, Previews | VH1.com](<a href=“http://www.vh1.com/shows/the_ocd_project/series.jhtml]The”>http://www.vh1.com/shows/the_ocd_project/series.jhtml)</p>