Columbia University / The New York State Psychiatric Institute / Center for OCD & Related Disorders

The OCD Research Program at the Anxiety Disorders Clinic

Founded in 1982, the Anxiety Disorders Clinic was the first in the nation devoted to research and treatment of anxiety problems. Although the idea that anxiety could take the form of specific disorders had been increasingly recognized, little systematic information about these disorders was available at the time. The clinic has been a driving force behind the recent advances in the recognition, understanding, and/or treatment of anxiety disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and others. Our counterpart Hispanic Clinic offers research treatment in Spanish and is a valuable asset in the community.

The OCD Research Program is dedicated to the mission of improving the lives of people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders by conducting cutting edge research to transform how we understand and treat these disorders. For the patients of today, we examine how to combine and sequence current treatments to maximize outcome, and we explore novel treatments. For the patients of tomorrow, we collaborate with experts in neuroimaging, genetics, and basic science to examine what causes obsessions and compulsions.