Dear Friends,
The year 2022 was a great year for OCD Louisiana! To start, our small nonprofit would like to offer sincere thanks to outgoing board members for their hard work and leadership through the year, including Caitlin Bussey, BS of Lafayette (outgoing Secretary), Chance McNeely, MPA of Baton Rouge (outgoing Treasurer), and Ashley Royerre Talley, MS, CCC-SLP of Slidell (outgoing Board Member-at-Large). A huge thanks goes to our volunteers who are continuing to serve the organization, including Michele N. Carroll, PsyD of Houma who is continuing in her role as Vice-President and Ashley Rush, MA of Lafayette who is transitioning into her new role as Secretary.
Within OCD Louisiana, our outreach to the community occurred through social media and email campaigns, fundraising events, and connection with local organizations. We used our website and social media outlets to inform the community of virtual and in-person events held by the IOCDF, other affiliates, and OCD-related organizations, as well as opportunities to contribute to the understanding of OCD and related disorders through participation in research studies. We were excited to attend two of the IOCDF’s virtual conferences (Faith and OCD Conference, and Online OCD Conference), as well as the Annual OCD Conference in Denver! It was especially great to be back together in-person with old friends and have the opportunity to make new friends too.
On a beautiful Sunday morning in October, we held the New Orleans One Million Steps for OCD Walk in Washington Square. We had a great turnout, sparked the interest of quite a few passersby, and were even featured on the local Fox station. Due to the generosity of our donors, we were able to raise over $1500 for the International OCD Foundation and OCD Louisiana! We are already looking forward to next year’s walk.
In December, several members got together for a “Hope for the Holidays” event, during which they created homemade cards for individuals receiving residential and inpatient treatment for OCD and related disorders.
OCD Louisiana, as part of our commitment to increasing access to evidenced-based treatment, has continued to provide opportunities for providers and trainees to learn more about OCD and related disorders. Our free, monthly virtual consultation group for professionals continues to go strong and has covered topics such as hoarding disorder, acceptance and commitment therapy, models of exposure and response prevention, family accommodation, and more. OCD Louisiana board members have also provided multiple educational events in New Orleans and Lafayette for mental health and medical professionals, as well as for college students. These presentations have focused on topics including body dysmorphic disorder, stress and self-care, innovations and cultural competence in OCD treatment, and OCD and the military.
As a small non-profit, OCD Louisiana’s focus in 2023 will be to further develop our website for the lay public and healthcare professionals, provide educational presentations to the community on OCD and related disorders, and continue the consultation group for professionals. We also will be launching our clinician training scholarship, through which we will sponsor clinicians to receive training in OCD treatment with funds raised from our generous donors! We will once again host the Annual One Million Steps for OCD Walk and hope to recruit more volunteers in general so we can provide additional in-person and virtual offerings.
In closing, we would like to sincerely thank the IOCDF for its support, financially and otherwise, throughout the year. We continue to be extremely grateful of the IOCDF’s assistance and look forward to continuing our work together for the coming year. Most of all, we wish to thank Louisianians who came together to support each other in the spirit of compassion and kindness this year. We could not do this without you.
Regards,
Kristin E Fitch, PhD
President, OCD Louisiana