Horizons Fall 2015

O bsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) often evokes images of excessive hand wash- ing or the need to fanatically arrange items in a particular order. While those behaviors can be part of the disorder, Jedidiah Siev, Ph.D., assistant professor at NSU’s College of Psychology since 2011, wants people to know that OCD is a serious, complex disorder that includes a wide spectrum of behaviors and often severely impairs the lives of those who suffer from it. He also wants people to know that help is available and the word has been spreading since Siev brought his expertise to NSU three years ago and added the NSU OCD and Related Dis- orders (NORD) program to the already existing NSU Anxiety Treatment Center. He is currently the director of the Anxiety Treatment Center and NORD program. “OCD is a disorder that interferes with people’s lives. The good news is that our treatments work well. They are not always easy to do, but the efficacy rates are very high. It is incredibly rewarding to work with people whose lives are so impaired and who you can help make such a huge difference in their lives,” he said. Since it opened, the NORD program has treated more than 130 patients, not only with OCD, but also with other, perhaps less well known, disorders such as hair pulling, skin picking, and Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), a preoccupation with a perceived defect in one’s physical appearance. Because of Siev and the NORD program, these patients are receiving the most current, best-researched treatments, which mostly rely on a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy called “expo- sure and response prevention.” Under Siev’s supervision, doctoral students from NSU’s College of Psychology provide a treatment plan that includes progressively exposing the client to his or her fears in order to reduce anxiety. “We are trying to help people learn that they can allow for anxiety. Studies show that, of the people who complete a full course of exposure and response preven- tion, 75 to 85 percent benefit tremendously from it,” Siev said. “We are asking people to face their biggest fears.” Siev learned much about these effective treatments during the more than eight years he spent working with some of the nation’s leading experts in the field of OCD and related dis- orders. After graduating from Yale University with a bach- elor’s degree in psychology, Siev took a couple years off and then attended graduate school at the University of Pennsyl- vania, where he received a master’s degree in psychology and his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. It just so happened that many of the leading researchers in OCD and related disorders were in the Philadelphia area, and Siev got the chance to work with many of them, igniting a lifelong passion for the subject. In addition, Siev completed a one-year internship and a two-year, postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Gen- eral Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the OCD and Related Disorders Program, where he again trained with several renowned OCD researchers and clinicians. Meanwhile, having Siev at NSU has also attracted students like Lori Merling, a fourth-year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student who currently is one of the coordinators for the NORD program. “I came here specifically to work with Dr. Siev,” said Merling, who discovered Siev’s research while getting her bachelor’s degree at McGill University in Montreal. Professor Makes NSU a Prime Resource for OCD Treatment BY ELLEN WOLFSON VALLADARES FACULTY PROFILE 32 NSU HORIZONS