The Child OCD Program at Emory (COPE) is a telehealth-based intensive outpatient program for adolescents ages 11-18 with moderate to severe obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
The program primarily utilizes exposure and response prevention (ERP), along with acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). It is entirely virtual, which allows us to treat adolescents across Georgia.
Our program is designed for teens (ages 11-18) with moderate to severe OCD. This includes teens who have not made sufficient progress in weekly outpatient therapy, as well as those stepping down from higher levels of care (e.g., a residential or partial hospitalization program).
Group Therapy
Participants attend the program from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Thursday. The first hour focuses on skill-building, drawing from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). The second hour is dedicated to Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), the gold-standard treatment for OCD. Skills are taught in a group setting, while ERP sessions combine group and individual work.
Individual Therapy
In addition to scheduled group sessions, participants are assigned a therapist who meets with them for one individual session per week. These sessions allow participants to address individualized needs and supplement their work in the program.
Family Therapy
Since OCD often impacts the entire family, parental involvement is a crucial component of the program. Participants receive one family session per week. Parents also join Monday’s multifamily group to learn skills alongside their teen and observe ERP sessions.
We use evidence-based treatments that can help participants gain freedom from OCD and improve their quality of life. Treatment gains can be made more quickly than would be possible with weekly outpatient therapy. By including parents in the program, we prepare families to maintain progress after the program concludes.
New participants join every four weeks, and they remain in the program for 4, 8, or 12 weeks depending on what would be most helpful given their needs. Most teens participate for 8 weeks.
We provide our services via HIPAA Compliant Zoom video conferencing. This allows us to provide care across the state of Georgia.
We accept many health insurance plans and offer scholarship options. Please contact us for more information.
1. Initial Contact: Reach out to us via email to get started.
2. Phone Screening: Our intake coordinator will contact you to provide more information about the program and complete a brief phone consultation.
3. Intake Evaluation: If the program seems like a good fit, we'll schedule a more in-depth intake evaluation. Based on the results, you'll be placed on the program waitlist and/or receive targeted treatment recommendations.
Discover the unique benefits of our one-week camps for youth with anxiety, OCD, and/or emotion regulation difficulties. Our experienced team of clinicians provide evidence-based treatment in an engaging environment that feels less like “therapy” and more like camp. Youth work on their fears and emotions alongside peers facing similar difficulties. We find this peer support and validation is powerful. It reduces stigma and increases motivation for treatment.
