Dr. Christian R. Komor is a born innovator and nationally recognized OCD expert. Thinking outside the box while relying on his experience with hundreds of OCD patients, thousands of student trainees, and exhaustive review of the professional literature Dr. Komor has developed a series of articles unique in the OCD field. This special collection includes insights and treatment strategies found nowhere else. From an in-depth look at the "special characteristics" of people with OCD to alternative healthcare options for the OCD sufferer Dr. Komor will take you on a journey that is both valuable and inspiring. A must-read for anyone whose life is touched by OCD.

There are a number of paper and pencil instruments designed to gather data from people with OCD. The most common among them the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale which underwent an extensive and much needed revision in 2006. The Komor Comprehensive OCD Inventory (KCOCDI) was developed from the point of view of the person with OCD. As such it focuses on collecting information that will lead to one very specific goal - assisting the individual OCD sufferer My goal in its construction was to elicit the kind of information which OCDers have told me they want their treatment providers to have. Hopefully the KCOCDI accomplishes that. The KCOCDI is designed in sections so that separate assessments can be made of the range of symptoms the individual is experiencing, the intensity of those symptoms, the conditions which might work for or against them in the healing process, and the presence of Special Characteristics as well as co-existing obsessive compulsive spectrum problems.

To protect the Earth we first need a strong connection to her Photographer Dr. Christian R. Komor and authors Charlie Wehrley, John R. Otterbacher, and Thomas F. Crum have joined together to weave words and images that bring your experience of the Earth and your true Self Alive

If generations of wise men and women have given us the keys to life fulfillment and peaceful coexistance on the Earth, why aren't things getting better? Perhaps it is because we have lacked a common ground where together we can practice those skills of love, perseverance, friendship, and peaceful coexistance "Driving Ourselves Sane" will show you how to transform the mundane task of driving a car into a vehicle for self-actualization, social transformation and Earth preservation. Along the way you will also learn research-based and road-tested techniques for making yourself and your loved ones over 70% safer.

Now known to be a relatively common (2-3% prevalence), genetically determined disorder of the cortical- thalamic-striatal (CTS) circuitry of the brain, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can be a devastating brain illness which continues to place a heavy burden on the healthcare system in spite of the development of 5HT reuptake blocking medications which are partially effective (roughly 30% improvement in 60% of patients without placebo effect) in reducing the symptoms of OCD. The serotonergic hypothesis has come under challenge from an array of more contemporary invitro and invivo studies indicating involvement of dopaminergic, inositol second messenger, glutamatergic, autoimmune and other mechanisms in the pathogenisis of OCD. Following in the footsteps of several of the neuro-immune-mediated (NMD) degenerative disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's Disease and particularly Sydenham's Chorea, strong evidence now implicates dysregulation of the immune system in the activation and maintenance of many forms of OCD. It is postulated that approaching OCD as a potentially Neuroimmune Mediated disorder may allow for the application of already-existing diagnostic and treatment innovations already in use in collateral field as well as the development of new treatment methodologies in specific to Neuroimmune Mediated Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (NM-OCD) In this monograph on Neuroimmune Mediated Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (NM-OCD) our hope is to bring to light correlations between research derived from studies of other neurological disorders such as Parkinson's Disease, MS, and Alzheimer's and our own field of Obsessive Compulsive Disorders. In the paper we explore existing research in psychoneuroimmunology, blood-brain barrier dysfunction and anti-neuronal processes in the brain.

People everywhere are feeling overwhelmed and disillusioned with an increasingly complex and demanding world. We do our best to adapt, we rush and multitask - yet the enjoyment, peace and love we long for is somehow missing from our everyday lives. We have and do more, but are less and less satisfied - and more and more alarmed by increasing rates of stress-related illness. In The Power of Being, nationally acclaimed psychologist Dr. Christian R. Komor provides specific exercises for regaining control over our high-pressure lives and finding our inner peace. This how-to book is jammed with easy-to-use techniques for all those who feel their lives are filled with too much activity and stress. Join Dr. Komor on a journey from from Compulsive Doing to joyful Being.

Statistics suggest that even with carefully targeted medication and cognitive-behavioral therapy, a substantial percentage of patients do not receive substantial relief from symptoms. It becomes important, then, to develop technologies for long-term self-care and lifestyle management. One such tool is the use of daily meditations, reminders, sayings, and slogans. These reminders can help us to separate ourselves from obsessional thoughts and learn to disbelieve them Like a refreshing slash of cold water, or a friendly tap on the shoulder they remind us that thoughts are just thoughts and need not control our reactions. And meditating on slogans or sayings can also have other benefits: Meditations and affirmations can also act as reminders of skills that one is developing through the exposure and response prevention behavior therapy process. They can reduce feelings of isolation - reminding us that we are not alone in our fight against obsessions and compulsions. They can assist us in generating hope that recovery from OCD is possible and remind us of active steps we can take to better our situation. They can assist us in developing and embracing new perspectives on living without the illusory protection of anxiety reducing rituals. They can assist in keeping a steady pace in the recovery process - a process that is won by continual, gradual progress resulting in very real change in the brain. But most of all slogans, sayings and reminders can assist us in separating ourselves from the lies and deceptions fed to us by our OCD mind. They help us to take a step back and examine our obsessional thoughts in the cold light of day - punching holes in the lies of OCD. With their help we can drive a wedge between the obsessions and our REAL thoughts and beliefs. And so, contained within this small-but-powerful book are dozens of the most helpful sayings that have emerged through thousands of interviews conducted by the OCD Recovery Center. Choose several and carry them in a wallet or purse for ready use when OCD strikes. Post them up in key locations around the house. Say them to yourself quietly as you confront an obsession and struggle to refuse a compulsion. This book is copyrighted, but the sayings contained within are for you to use on your journey of recovery from OCD. Use them freely and where you feel most need.

Beautiful but mysterious, the high-desert town of Sedona, Arizona has attracted the strange and miraculous for more than a century. Called by admirers the "real Northern Exposure with actual Twin Peaks" Sedona has been voted the second most likely place in America for an alien landing. (A sign on the airport fence reads "Area 52.") Gonzo writer Dr. Christian R. Komor brings true stories from this most unique of towns to light for the first time in this unforgettable (you wish ) collections of articles even Dave Barry would find strange.

Driving is the most dangerous activity most of us will ever do. In a few seconds the thin line between life and death can be crossed. In this unique program, based on exhaustive best-practices research, The Young Driver Safety Institute provides readers with the skilled guidance and critical information needed to conduct an effective home-based driver's instruction course. Using the new proactive-predictive driving format the YDSI Workbook is filled with the forms, inventories and informational handouts you need to train yourself, a teen or a senior driver struggling to maintain their license. (Teen / Family Version also available). Join the thousands who using the YDSI proactive-predictive method to be 70% safer on the road. This Workbook is intended to be used along with the YDSI Proactive-Predictive Training Document Pack and a formal drivers training course.

Ranked as one of the 10 most severely disabling medical conditions by the The World Health Organization, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a terrifying condition striking millions of children and adults. While sufferers are as "normal" as you or me, unwanted thoughts intrude into their awareness promising horrifying outcomes if certain rituals are not performed. Fortunately, for those willing to work hard in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), high levels of recovery can usually be achieved. The first step in the CBT process is differentiating OCD "error messages" from one's own true thoughts. Enter the Obsessive Compulsive's Meditation Book. Through daily affirmations, reminders and helpful exercises, readers find the mindful awareness necessary to see the OCD thoughts for the error messages they are. Through inspiration and encouragement readers press on through OCD's waves of tormenting fear - reclaiming their birthright of spontaneity and freedom of choice. The Obsessive Compulsive s Meditation Book is a wonderful gift for yourself, a friend or family member or even those who are just a little too hurried, worried and driven in life.

In spite of millions of research dollars expended, the only consistently successful treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) continues to be Exposure to the feared stimulus while maintaining Awareness of the irrationality of the obsession and Preventing the normal ritual Response (or ERP for short). Based on his experience training thousands of counselors in optimal methodology for treating OCD and treating hundreds of OCD patients internationally-recognized OCD Spectrum Disorders expert Dr. Christian R. Komor has prepared this handy, step-by-step guide to what he calls "ERP+." The guide is based on hundreds of interviews with people with OCD over a 15 year period and includes special techniques and elements not found elsewhere in the literature. There is also a special bonus exercise - "The ERP Genie."

With the goal of reclaiming our natural spontaneity and aliveness, OCD and Other Gods presents a multifaceted approach to healing from obsessive and compulsive lifestyles. While acknowledging the importance of traditional interventions such as SRI medication and exposure and response prevention behavior therapy (ERP), the reader is provided with nine additional interlocking elements essential to OC-Spectrum recovery including: Unique complementary and alternative medicine tools Preventive self-care and lifestyle skills Stress and anxiety management techniques Obsession-inoculation and cognitive restructuring strategies Pathways for recovering the natural doing-being balance Techniques for transcending aliveness-blocking fears and personality dynamics Peer and family support elements Relapse prevention Links to educational resources and support organizations All of these innovations are designed to assist the reader in the central task of transforming both core and obsessional fears and reclaiming the individual's ability to experience spontaneity and the joy of "being." OCD and Other Gods is must reading for all people with OC-Spectrum Disorders, or who find themselves trapped in any compulsive lifestyle and who wish to recover the keys to aliveness and centered spontaneity that is the paradoxical gift waiting to be unwrapped at the core of compulsion.

Often misunderstood, Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Disorders are now thought to be genetically determined disorders aggravated by immune, hormonal and life stress events. While research into these fascinating mind/body disorders has made great advances, treatment innovations have lagged far behind. Many OC patients go undiagnosed. Even those patients fortunate enough to receive attention find there are few practitioners with the expertise to provide high quality treatment or understand the subtle effects the disorder has on the individual's lifestyle, learning abilities, relationships, career choices and even spirituality. This training manual for professionals has been presented to thousands of physicians and counselors in over 100 cities across the United States. Developed by an internationally recognized expert in Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Disorders the manual provides a broad overview of the field including significant aspects of diagnosis, comorbid issues, neurology, immunology, treatment planning, psychoactive and alternative medications, anxiety reduction and lifestyle management strategies. The course will also provide a complete package of treatment skills for conducting effective behavioral treatment with OCD, Trichotillomania, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Compulsive Hoarding, and Tourette's Disorder and others. You will learn to: Effectively diagnose and differentiate between all of the major Obsessive Compulsive (OC) Spectrum disorders. Master the current brain research, genetic findings, and biological basis underlying obsessive-compulsive behavior. Discover how to create optimal relief for the 30-50% of OC patients not helped by traditional medication and cognitive-behavioral approaches. Learn to command a wide range of cognitive and behavioral interventions for symptom reduction and remediation. Recognize the five reasons why behavior treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorders often fails and how to avoid these pitfalls. Learn to use a Seven-Step plan for working through difficult OCD situations and exposure and response prevention behavior therapy. Arm yourself with powerful, research-proven Integrative Healthcare options for augmenting psychoactive medications and behavior therapy. Learn dozens of tools for anxiety reduction lifestyle management and self-care that can be applied to any anxiety disorder. Master highly effective tools for dealing effectively with more challenging obsessive compulsive situations including "pure" obsessions, Body Dysmorphic Disorder and compulsive hoarding.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a bewildering, confusing, paradoxical, torturous, and very, very uncomfortable neurobiological disorder which can wreak havoc not just on the individual sufferer, but also on their relationships, home life, school and work. Indeed, if you do have someone with OCD in your life you are probably wondering, ?How did I get into this or even more likely ?How do I get out of this? ? You want to know how to best assist them, but don't want to get sucked into the rituals and just downright weirdness that goes with OCD. You?d like everybody to be able to go on with their lives and live happily ever after. You?d like the OCD to go away and leave everyone alone Well, as usual there is good news and bad news. The good news is together we can make OCD significantly better so that life can go on. The bad news is that, like other neurobiological illnesses (Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Huntington?s, etc.) OCD is a physical problem that, once activated, is generally with someone for life at some level. Unlike those other diseases and disorders, however, OCD responds very well to modifications in behavior which in turn send feedback back to the brain, which in turn assist the brain in healing itself from the OCD. We now know from brain imagery research that not only can behavior therapy change how the OCD brain functions, but it can also help the brain to restructure itself (e.g. grow new neurons) to work around or correct the faulty circuitry which is causing the OCD So this is pretty good news really ? but only if you know exactly how to treat the OCD. OCD treatment is very specialized and requires counter-intuitive techniques that general practice counselors do not usually have knowledge of. Like all living things the OCD has a will to survive and will resist attempts to kill it or disable it. We must be knowledgeable and clever in our efforts to fight it, or we could end up throwing gasoline on the fire and making everything worse As your author I not only have significant OCD myself, but have also had the privilege of working with hundreds of OCD patients in all different settings across America over a span of more than 15 years. I have also taught one-day seminars in over 100 cities for thousands of professional learning to treat OCD and Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Disorders. This wealth of experience has allowed me to develop innovative techniques which have led to a higher success rate in achieving symptom remission. If you were to engage in counseling with me to treat OCD the process represented in this book would be the one we would follow