OCDChicago.org | Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Treatment, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Chicago, OCD, Compulsive Disorder Relief

Committed to OCD Education and Support

Who We Are

Board of Directors

Martin E. Silverman: President
Jeanne B. Ettelson: Vice President and Treasurer
Donna B. Wilkins: Secretary
Ellen Sawyer: Assistant Secretary
Susan A. Richman: Honorary Chair
Penelope P. Campbell
Kenneth A. Wexler
Anne L. Wieboldt

Executive Director

Ellen Sawyer

Scientific Advisory Board

Karen L. Cassiday, Ph.D., A.C.T.: Owner and Clinical Director
Anxiety & Agoraphobia Treatment Center, Northbrook, IL
Clinical Assistant Professor
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Sciences, North Chicago, IL
Instructor, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology
Rush Medical School, Chicago, IL
Gail B. Adams, Ed.D.: Educational Psychologist, IL
Albert J. Allen, M.D., Ph.D.: Eli Lilly & Company, Indianapolis, IN
Mona H. Berman, M.A., L.C.P.C.: Private Practice, Northfield, IL
John E. Calamari, Ph.D.: Professor and Chair
Department of Psychology
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL
Kevin L. Gyoerkoe, Psy.D.: Anxiety & Agoraphobia Treatment Center, Northbrook, IL
Brian Martis, M.D.: Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Assistant Chief of Psychiatry
VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System
Attending Psychiatrist
Anxiety Disorders Clinic
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Mark A. Reinecke, Ph.D..: Chief, Division of Psychology
Northwestern University
Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
Bradley C. Riemann, Ph.D.: Director
OCD Center and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Services at Rogers Memorial Hospital, Oconomowoc, WI
Pamela S. Wiegartz, Ph.D.: Director of CBT Services and Training
Department of Psychiatry
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA

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Expert Perspectives

Pure “O” - Fact or Fiction?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is diagnostically classified as an anxiety disorder due to its hallmark feature of intense periods of anxiety. The diagnostic criterion for OCD states that an individual needs to experience either obsessions or compulsions to have OCD (American Psychiatric Association). The inclusion of this “either or” in the definition of OCD allows for the existence of an individual suffering from only obsessions (i.e., “pure obsessional, or “pure O”). This subtype of OCD seems to contradict clinical observations made by many thought leaders in the field of OCD.