Continuing search for treatment options for our 24 YO daughter with intense health anxiety--Bergen program?

[Dadof2kids3cats]

I have read some enthusiastic reports about the Bergen 4-Day Intensive OCD treatment online on the My OCD Community board and some other places, and also about Dr. Chad Brandt. I gather from some other online searches that the Bergen treatment was formerly offered in Houston but is no longer available there, but also that it is now being offered in Los Angeles. I also gather that Dr. Brandt was formerly associated with the Houston program and is now in private practice in Houston and is offering a similar treatment program, also entailing a short course of full-day ERP sessions.

I am wondering if anyone here has recent experience with either of these programs and what you can tell us about them. One particular concern raised by our daughter is that in her current state it is hard for her to imagine tolerating a full day of ERP. Since these methods are generally only being offered to patients with severe cases of OCD, it seems like the providers must have some ways of supporting patients with severe OCD through such an intensive ERP experience; can you tell us anything about this?

I would also welcome being pointed towards any recent commentary on these programs and their effectiveness that has NOT been written or prepared by the team that developed the Bergen method or by those providing these services now. Thank you

[Sallyskins]

I can't comment on this particular program but I was referred to an intensive residential program for OCD here in England. I stayed there for four months, going home at weekends - stays there are usually 4-6 months. I didn't have to pay - it's an National Health Service (NHS) program and hospital.

Although told it was 'intensive' I found the treatment actually very gentle. It involved learning to push myself enough for the OCD discomfort to increase and subside, but I certainly wasn't pushed beyond what I felt capable of. It helped, of course, that I got on with the therapist assigned to me.

The typical day on the ward wasn't entirely taken up with intensive ERP. One-to-one sessions with our therapists, along with group meetings (the hospital ward catered for 12-14 patients at any one time) being supplemented by an expectation that we would put what we learned into practice in our day-to-day life on the ward.

I really do understand your daughter's concerns and her possible response to intensive therapy. CBT and ERP aren't easy to do and flooding someone's system with them can have the opposite effect and leave them traumatized, rather than helped.

I've found personally that the harsher the treatment, the less effective it is. If this is the case with the programs you describe, then I would avoid them. But it may not be as bad as all that. A sympathetic and supportive therapist can help the patient to challenge the OCD while being there as a sort of safety net.

I hadn't heard of the Bergen program until I read your post - I shall do a bit of investigating and let you know if I come up with anything that might be useful.

[Sallyskins]

I've just done a quick search of the internet, and this method does sound very effective. I'm particularly impressed by the almost non-existent drop-out rate of those who go on it.

I should be inclined, if I were your daughter, to give it a go. A caveat: make sure that any treatment course she enrols in is fully accredited and delivered by properly qualified therapists.