OCD & ERP: Beyond the Manual - Advanced Training for Clinicians

OCD & ERP: Beyond the Manual is a six-week, live clinical training program designed to deepen clinician competence, confidence, and clinical fluency in the assessment and treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This program goes beyond protocol-driven ERP to focus on real-time clinical decision-making, case formulation, and the subtle mechanisms that maintain OCD in both overt and covert presentations.

This supervision-style training integrates contemporary inhibitory learning models of ERP, rumination-focused ERP, and psychodynamic formulation, providing clinicians with a more comprehensive and flexible approach to treating complex OCD presentations.

The program is led by Elisha Schafer, Registered Psychotherapist (RP), Clinical Director of Lotus Counselling Services and Adjunct Professor with McMaster University’s Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences.

Program Overview

This is a live, fully virtual training delivered in a small-group supervision format to support applied learning, deliberate practice, and individualized feedback.

Participants will engage in:

• Didactic instruction
• Live clinical demonstrations
• Experiential practice exercises
• Supervision-style coaching
• Structured case discussion
• Scripts, clinical tools, worksheets, and resources for immediate clinical use

Each week builds progressively, allowing clinicians to move from conceptual understanding into confident clinical application.

Program Length:

• 6 weeks
• Session Length: 1.5 hours per week
• Format: Live, virtual (online)
• CE Credits: 9 Continuing Education credits upon completion
• Group Size:
• Limited to 10 clinicians per cohort
• Cost: $300 CAD for the full program

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the program, participants will be able to:

• Develop a deeper understanding of OCD beyond diagnostic criteria
• Accurately conceptualize both overt and covert compulsions
• Apply inhibitory learning principles to design more precise and effective exposures
• Identify and target rumination as a behavioural compulsion
• Strengthen clinical dialogue and psychoeducation
• Integrate psychodynamic formulation with ERP treatment planning
• Confidently treat complex, treatment-resistant OCD presentations
• Increase therapeutic alliance and treatment engagement

Who This Training Is For

This training is appropriate for:

• Registered Psychotherapists
• Psychologists
• Social Workers
• Counsellors
• Graduate Trainees

The program is suitable for clinicians working in:

• Private practice
• Community mental health
• Hospital-based services
• University or school-based mental health care
• A foundational understanding of OCD and CBT is recommended but not required.

Cohort Dates & Times

All sessions run on Mondays from 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM (ET).

January 2026 Cohort

January 19 | January 26 | February 2 | February 9 | No session February 16 | February 23 | March 2

March 2026 Cohort

March 23 | March 30 | No session April 6 | April 13 | April 20 | April 27 | May 4

Certification & Documentation

Participants will receive:

• A Certificate of Completion
• 9 CE credits
• Full access to training materials and clinical tools

Instructor

Elisha Schafer, RP Clinical Director, Lotus Counselling Services | Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences McMaster University