WHO ARE WE?
OCD Excellence is an online and offline organisation offering treatment for people with OCD, support for their carers & families and training for professionals. Originating from OCDFirstAid and the philosophy that access to specialist care is the right of everyone with this complicated, life span condition.
We were the first to offer intensive treatment for OCD in the UK and we are now first to offer unique specialist training to professionals. Our OCD Excellence Practitioner Programme is based on 16 years of experience and thousands of clients. It is an effective combination of evidence-based cognitive behavioural and acceptance-based methods developed as a result of the work of its founder, India Haylor, who is frequently featured in broadcast and print media as one of the UK’s experts in the condition.
Margherita is a Clinical Psychologist and member of the British Psychological Society. She is also a PhD researcher at the Dept. of Psychology, University of Cambridge, where she is part of the prestigious OCD team under Prof. Trevor Robbins, a world-leading expert on the behavioural and neural correlates of OCD.
Her expertise is in intrusive imagery and false memories in OCD and how these can be related to early traumatic experiences.
She gained valuable clinical skills and experience in neuroscience via her double Psychology degree (Outstanding Distinction) at the Sigmund Freud Privat Universitat in Vienna. She also has a Master's degree (Distinction) in Clinical Mental Health Sciences from University College London. During her studies, she worked as an intern at the World Health Organisation (WHO), which allowed her to develop excellent research skills from a culture-informed perspective. She also worked as an Assistant Psychologist for children and young people with Autism Spectrum Disorders and their families and on the Research for Antipsychotics Discontinuation and Reduction, acquiring relevant clinical skills and pharmacological knowledge: She says,
'My personal experience with OCD has led to my desire: to increase awareness of OCD among the scientific community and the general public and to contribute to developing the best possible treatment alongside OCD Excellence - and hopefully a cure one day - for those suffering from the disorder.'
Joanne is a highly qualified Nutritional Therapist with 5 years of clinical experience. Her interest in Nutritional Therapy followed improvements to her own health as a result of lifestyle and nutritional adjustments. She became interested in supporting clients with OCD when one of her adult children was diagnosed with OCD and secondary depression.
While Joanne’s approach is food first, she also offers cutting edge functional testing and therapeutic supplements when required.
She is a member of BANT (British Association for Nutrition & Lifestyle Medicine https://bant.org.uk ), ANP (Association of Naturopathic Practitioners https://theanp.co.uk ). She is registered with GNC (General Naturopathic Council https://gncouncil.co.uk ) and CNHC (Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council https://www.cnhc.org.uk ) and fully insured with Balens ( https://www.balens.co.uk ).