With suicide remaining a leading cause of death for people aged between 15-44 in Australia, clinicians in the OCD space need to ask the question: How do we differentiate between suicidal ideation and obsessive intrusive suicidal thoughts?

In this episode, we discuss how to work with a client when they come to you with suicidal thoughts, why it is critical to take all mentions of suicide seriously, and how to determine whether a person with OCD is presenting with suicidal ideation consistent with wishes to die or whether it’s intrusive suicidal OCD.

This episode contains discussions about suicide. If you find this episode distressing and would like more support, please seek help from your local healthcare provider. If you’re in Australia, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 at any time.

 

Resources and links:

• Lifeline website
• Webinars, books, and training by Melbourne Wellbeing Group
• OCD training workshops by Dr Celin Gelgec
• OCD focused supervision for healthcare professionals with Dr Celin Gelgec

 

Connect:

• https://www.melbournewellbeinggroup.com

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Felicity Phillips is the Founder of Weight of the World, a community-driven organisation supporting people with eating disorders and their carers through recovery. Weight of the World aims to provide peer support and education while challenging diet culture and promoting body neutrality.

In this episode, Felicity shares her personal journey from pre-professional ballet to developing an eating disorder and ultimately finding recovery, explains the alarming rise of "skinny talk" on social media and how algorithms target vulnerable users within seconds, and reveals the powerful parallels between eating disorders and addiction that challenge common misconceptions about these complex mental health conditions.

 

Resources and links:

• Weight of the World: A High Tea for ED Healing & Hope tickets
• Webinars, books, and training by Melbourne Wellbeing Group
• OCD training workshops by Dr Celin Gelgec
• OCD focused supervision for healthcare professionals with Dr Celin Gelgec

 

Connect:

• https://www.melbournewellbeinggroup.com.au/
• http://www.drcelingelgec.com.au/

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

It’s normal to have doubts and questions about our relationships sometimes. Am I in love with my partner? Am I spending enough time with my parents? Are my friends mad at me? But what happens when those normal, passing concerns turn into an obsession?

In this episode, we explain the difference between ordinary relationship concerns and relationship OCD (ROCD), how to identify when ROCD is showing up, and what the next steps are for helping clients manage it.

 

Resources and links:

• Webinars, books, and training by Melbourne Wellbeing Group
• OCD training workshops by Dr Celin Gelgec
• OCD focused supervision for healthcare professionals with Dr Celin Gelgec

 

Connect:

• https://www.melbournewellbeinggroup.com.au/
• http://www.drcelingelgec.com.au/

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

This is the final part of our two-part chat with Dr Bianca Mastromanno. In the last episode, Bianca discussed how she works with parents to process their childhood experiences and help them navigate parenthood themselves.

In this episode, Bianca opens up about her personal experiences with parenting anxiety, digs into the challenges faced by parents with OCD, the impact of OCD on early parenthood, and how clinicians can support parents during the vulnerable early days of new parenthood.

 

Resources and links:

• ‘Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts’ by Karen Kleiman
• ‘Matrescence’ by Lucy Jones
• ‘The Magic Years” by Selma H. Fraiberg
• Dr Bianca Mastromanno’s website
• Dr Bianca Mastromanno on Instagram
• Dr Bianca Mastromanno on LinkedIn
• Webinars, books, and training by Melbourne Wellbeing Group
• OCD training workshops by Dr Celin Gelgec
• OCD focused supervision for healthcare professionals with Dr Celin Gelgec

 

Connect:

• https://www.melbournewellbeinggroup.com.au/
• http://www.drcelingelgec.com.au/

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Dr Bianca Mastromanno is a Clinical Psychologist who works extensively in the perinatal space. Bianca uses a trauma-informed, evidence-based approach to support parents and children living with mental health concerns.

In this episode, Bianca explains how she works with parents with OCD or other mental health challenges to explore and process their own childhood experiences to help them navigate the emotional challenges of parenthood. She also reflects on what she’s learnt from the parents she works with and from her own experiences as a parent.

This episode is part one of our two-part chat with Bianca. Keep an eye out for part two, where Bianca digs into how to better support parents with OCD through their pre and post-natal periods.

 

Resources and links:

• Dr Bianca Mastromanno’s website
• Dr Bianca Mastromanno on Instagram
• Dr Bianca Mastromanno on LinkedIn
• Webinars, books, and training by Melbourne Wellbeing Group
• OCD training workshops by Dr Celin Gelgec
• OCD focused supervision for healthcare professionals with Dr Celin Gelgec

 

Connect:

• https://www.melbournewellbeinggroup.com.au/
• http://www.drcelingelgec.com.au/

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

This is the final part of our two-part chat with Lindsay and Emily Stetzer. In the last episode, Lindsay and Emily opened up about their early experiences with OCD and how their lived experiences led them to create Presently Bracelets.

In this episode, Lindsay and Emily discuss the household dynamics of living in a family with OCD, the significance of non-accommodating support, and the role of exposure therapy, self-awareness, and trust in the recovery process.

 

Resources and links:

• Presently Bracelets website
• Webinars, books, and training by Melbourne Wellbeing Group
• OCD training workshops by Dr Celin Gelgec
• OCD focused supervision for healthcare professionals with Dr Celin Gelgec

 

Connect:

• https://www.melbournewellbeinggroup.com.au/
• http://www.drcelingelgec.com.au/

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Lindsay and Emily Stetzer are sisters living with OCD and the Founders of Presently Bracelets. Presently Bracelets offer a range of bracelets to help you navigate intrusive thoughts and embrace the present moment. 

In this episode, Lindsay and Emily share their individual experiences with OCD and treatment, what helps them between sessions, and what they think therapists need to know from the perspective of someone with OCD. They also share how the phrase “my thoughts are passing clouds” led to the creation of Presently.

 

Resources and links:

• Presently Bracelets website
• Webinars, books, and training by Melbourne Wellbeing Group
• OCD training workshops by Dr Celin Gelgec
• OCD focused supervision for healthcare professionals with Dr Celin Gelgec

 

Connect:

• https://www.melbournewellbeinggroup.com.au/
• http://www.drcelingelgec.com.au/

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

This is the final part of our two-part chat with Chrissie Hodges. In the last episode, Chrissie shared her early experiences with OCD before embracing the challenges of OCD peer support and advocacy work.

In this episode, Chrissie reflects on her experiences with OCD treatments and what clinicians can and should be doing better. She also emphasises the importance of acknowledging the impacts of different OCD themes on the individual and how some themes might result in more trauma and stigma than others.

 

Resources and links:

• Chrissie Hodges’ website
• Chrissie Hodges on YouTube
• Chrissie Hodges on Instagram
• OCD Gamechangers website
• Webinars, books, and training by Melbourne Wellbeing Group
• OCD training workshops by Dr Celin Gelgec
• OCD focused supervision for healthcare professionals with Dr Celin Gelgec

 

Connect:

• https://www.melbournewellbeinggroup.com.au/
• http://www.drcelingelgec.com.au/

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Chrissie Hodges is an OCD Advocate, Peer Support Specialist, and Author of ‘Pure OCD: The Invisible Side of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder’. For over a decade, Chrissie has worked closely with individuals living with OCD, as well as providing training to government agencies to enable them to better support people with OCD.

In this episode, Chrissie shares her powerful personal journey with OCD starting from age eight, describes how religious scrupulosity and emetophobia shaped her early experiences and opens up about her path from struggling in silence to becoming a prominent voice in the OCD community through peer support and advocacy work.

 

Resources and links:

• Chrissie Hodges’ website
• Chrissie Hodges on YouTube
• Chrissie Hodges on Instagram
• OCD Gamechangers website
• Webinars, books, and training by Melbourne Wellbeing Group
• OCD training workshops by Dr Celin Gelgec
• OCD focused supervision for healthcare professionals with Dr Celin Gelgec

 

Connect:

• https://www.melbournewellbeinggroup.com.au/
• http://www.drcelingelgec.com.au/

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Is tough love the right approach for people struggling with hoarding disorders, or is there another way?

In this episode, we explain how to recognise hoarding disorder and how it differs from having a collection or even hoarding-themed OCD. We explore how to navigate the intense shame experienced by people with a hoarding disorder or hoarding-themed OCD and how to sensitively and responsibly provide intervention.

 

Resources and links:

• Celin discussing hoarding on The Conversation Hour on ABC Radio

• Melbourne Wellbeing Group enquiry page

• Webinars, books, and training by Melbourne Wellbeing Group

• OCD training workshops by Dr Celin Gelgec

• OCD focused supervision for healthcare professionals with Dr Celin Gelgec

 

Connect:

• https://www.melbournewellbeinggroup.com.au/

• http://www.drcelingelgec.com.au/

 

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.