The Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) for OCD Training is a four-hour online workshop scheduled for Friday, May 16, 2025, from 2:00 PM UK time (6am California, 9am Boston, 11pm Sydney). Designed for qualified and trainee counselors, psychotherapists, and psychologists experienced in working with OCD, this training explores the integration of FAP in OCD treatment.

What is FAP?

Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) focuses on shaping interpersonal behaviors within the therapeutic relationship to help clients connect authentically with themselves and others. Despite research showing the critical importance of close relationships for psychological well-being (Waldinger & Schulz, 2023), evidence-based individual therapies rarely teach clients how to emotionally connect with others. FAP aligns with the exposure-based approach of ERP and ACT by shaping emotional awareness and authentic self-expression (e.g., expressing genuine feelings despite fear of rejection) to foster meaningful connections and reduce psychological suffering.

Why this training?

Evidence-based therapy is shifting from treatment protocols (e.g., ERP for OCD) to a more sophisticated integration of evidence-based treatment methods tailored to the needs of individual clients. Therapies like ERP and ACT are widely used for OCD, but these therapies view OCD through intra-personal factors (obsessions, rituals, avoidance) rather than interpersonal factors (emotional awareness, authentic self-expression, observing one’s impact on others). A growing number of seasoned, evidence-based clinicians are addressing how interpersonal factors contribute to OCD.

What will you learn?

1) How to do OCD case conceptualization using functional analysis of both intra-personal and inter-personal behavior (precisely identifying complex interpersonal behavior creating disconnection/connection)

2) How to develop treatment plans (including OCD-focused ERP plans) that target interpersonal behaviors creating connection and disconnection in your client’s life

3) How to attune to the complexity of your client’s inner experience and

help them express it to you and others in ways that are authentic and connecting

4) How to take interpersonal risks in a genuine way as a therapist to fit the needs of your particular clients

As part of this training, segments of the trainer’s recorded therapy sessions will be shown and analyzed to demonstrate exactly how FAP can be used effectively with OCD clients who are not responding to traditional evidence-based therapies for OCD. Participants will have the opportunity to present OCD cases they are struggling with, learn how to conceptualize their problems from a FAP perspective, and role-play FAP interventions with the trainers and other participants. Participants will also have the chance to engage in real-plays (sharing their own authentic experience of interpersonal behaviors they struggle with as therapists) in the context of FAP-focused interactions with the trainers. The goal here is to help illuminate the principles of FAP through real-time, experiential learning.

Trainers:

The workshop is led by experienced OCD clinicians, Nate Gruner, LICSW, and Meaghan Cleary, LMHC, both affiliated with McLean Hospital OCD Institute.