INFORMATION ON THE NJ OCF AND HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED

Here are some ways that you can get involved with the NJ OCF.

FOR PROFESSIONALS, CONSUMERS AND THEIR FAMILIES:

• Tell your friends, family members, and other mental health professionals about us- word of mouth is one our best advertisements!
• Join the National OC Foundation (www.ocfoundation.org).   The New Jersey Affiliate gets some money from National each year to help keep us going. The amount of financial assistance we receive from them is dependent on the number of NJ residents that belong to the National Foundation.
• Subscribe to our newsletter.   Five dollars a year- pretty cheap! Or sign-up to receive via e-mail.
• Write articles for our newsletter- you may write from a professional, consumer, or family member perspective.   Book, movie, or TV reviews (see the latest Monk episode? What did you think?),   personal experiences, poems, letters to the editor, or informative clinical material, reviews of our meetings and conferences, are all welcome.
• Advertise in our newsletter- we have a professional directory of business cards in each newsletter.   At present, the newsletter goes out to over 1200 individuals and consumers throughout New Jersey.   We are working on having the professional directory available on our website as well.   While most advertisers are mental health professionals, we are an equal-opportunity forum for advertisers.
• Come to our quarterly meetings- we always have great and informative speakers. The meetings are advertised in our quarterly newsletters (which come out approximately 4 weeks before each meeting), as well as on our website.   They now take place at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, 7-9 pm on the 2nd Monday evening in the months of March, June, September, and December.
• Visit our website - www.njocf.org
• Buy our DVDs - on sale here at the conference.   Also, see the listings on our website and newsletter.
• Buy the Entertainment Books.   They are on sale at the conference.   Also, see our newsletter.  
• Help us to get the word out about our meetings and conferences by volunteering to hand-deliver our quarterly newsletters and our NJ OCF brochure once every 3 months to professionals and/or clinics that are in the area where you live and/or work.   A personal delivery and a few words directly to a therapist or clinic director about an upcoming meeting or conference helps our information from getting lost in the deluge of mail that most professionals regularly get. Contact Ina at 732-828-0099.   
• Start a self-help or a professionally run support group.   We can help with getting the word out for free and, for self-help groups, to guide you through the process.   Contact Ina.  
• Help us with fundraisers- we had wanted to have an OCD picnic this past Spring, and a gift wrap program for bookstores this December, but we didn't have the manpower to put it together and make it happen.   Contact Ina.
• Help us in the creation of our professional referral list.   This entails briefly phone interviewing professionals from a list we would provide you, or helping to enter the information in a database. Contact Dr. Weg at 732-390-6694.
• Donate money- contributions are always helpful!  

FOR PROFESSIONALS:

• Newsletter articles- Note that when you write for us, your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address/website will appear at the end of the article.   This is an effective and cost-free way for you to let people know who you are, and your interest in this disorder.
• Speak at one of our quarterly meetings.   We tend to have professionals who are very well-versed in the treatment of OCD.   We tend to schedule speakers many months, sometimes more than a year, in advance.   The presentation is reviewed and put in our newsletter and website.   Again, this is good professional exposure at no cost to you.
• Join our referral network.   If you believe that you are skilled in the treatment of OCD, let us know and we will provide you as a referral if people phone us looking for one in your geographical area.  There is no charge at this time for this service.  However, please note, you information will be kept in our files only.  If you would like to be listed on our website or in our newsletter for the public to see, there is an advertising fee.
  To be kept in our files to be used as a referral only, please contact Dr. Weg.  If you would like to be listed on our website and in our newsletter for a charge, please contact Ina Spero.

THERE ARE ALWAYS NEW AND DIFFERENT WAYS THAT YOU CAN HELP.   IF YOU HAVE ANY OF YOUR OWN IDEAS, LET US KNOW!!!