By Arden Berry | Staff Writer
The Counseling Center is introducing a therapy group called UnStuck: Living Beyond OCD to help students break the cyclical symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder in an open and informative environment.
According to the Counseling Center website, UnStuck meets on Fridays from 1:30 to 3 p.m., starting Sept. 26.
Dr. Kallie Kobold, the Counseling Center’s assistant director of community partnership, said the Counseling Center has noticed an uptick in students exhibiting OCD symptoms in individual therapy. She and Dr. Grace Kallimel, the Counseling Center’s assistant director of clinical services, created UnStuck to help these students.
“That was our hope — to form a group so that not only can we learn more strategies and tools, but also to just be around other students who are experiencing this similarly, because I think a lot of times this can feel really isolating,” Kobold said.
Kobold said the goal of the group is to help students exit the difficult emotional cycles of OCD and “re-engage” with the activities they enjoy.
“I think a lot of times when we get stuck on these cycles, it really prevents us from being able to do the things that we enjoy or even just simply being present with others,” Kobold said.
Kallimel said the struggle to break free from OCD symptoms and anxiety has to do with control. The tools and group setting UnStuck provides will help students struggling with this control. According to Kallimel, it’s common for people struggling with OCD to become overwhelmed and to exhibit symptoms in the form of anxiety or depression.
“It’s helping learn how we can approach these difficult emotions in a different way rather than getting caught up in trying to fix it or control it, and learning more of an approach of openness and curiosity and acceptance,” Kallimel said.
Kobold said she and Kallimel will introduce experiential exercises and tools at UnStuck meetings. Two example exercises they will employ are Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy (ERP).
“We do things that will be around mindfulness and ACT terms,” Kobold said. “It’s called present moment awareness. How do people get more in touch with the present moment? Because that’s where we find change happens. Change can really only occur in the present.”
Kobold said UnStuck will also be an opportunity for students with similar struggles to share their experiences and connect.
“I think there’s going to be a natural time and space of being able to connect with each other, and it’s such a beautiful thing of being able to vulnerably share,” Kobold said.
Interested students can set up a 30-minute group information appointment with Kobold and Kallimel.
