The Bergen Four-Day OCD Treatment, a programme that compresses months of therapy into less than a week, is being brought to New Zealand for the first time.
The treatment was originally developed in Norway, the treatment has achieved enduring results for OCD patients overseas. New Zealand psychologists are now receiving training with international support from Singapore and Bergen.
The Scale of OCD in New Zealand
OCD affects between 1 and 2 percent of the population, yet many cases go undiagnosed and untreated. For those who do receive care, access to effective therapies is often slow, fragmented, and expensive. Clinicians warn the disorder is not the “quirky” habit portrayed in film and television, but a condition that can be profoundly disabling.
“People with OCD have almost cartoonishly high rates of suicide and self-harm,” Auckland man Ethan Spaabaek said.
The Bergen Four-Day OCD Treatment Model
The Bergen Four-Day OCD Treatment is being introduced to New Zealand by Open Closed Doors. Trials overseas show 90 percent of patients improve, with four-year recovery holding at about 70 percent. Dr Marthinus Bekker, a clinical psychologist helping lead the rollout, described the format as an update to ERP therapy.
“It condenses it into an intensive period of about four days. You start on the Tuesday, let’s say, and on the Friday, the treatment concludes.”
Unlike traditional one-on-one sessions, he said, its group delivery offers “validation you get from being around other people going through the same challenges.”
Global Partnerships Driving Local Access
The programme’s arrival in New Zealand has been made possible by the Kavli Trust, a Norwegian charity founded on a cheese fortune. “So we’re laughing that a Norwegian cheese charity is rolling out a mental health service in New Zealand!” said co-founder Megan Jones.
Five New Zealand psychologists are currently undertaking two weeks of training in Singapore. Bergen clinicians will arrive to train local practitioners to expand access nationwide in January.
Cost-Efficient OCD Treatment for Long-Term Impact
Jones stressed that the Bergen model is effective and cost-efficient, avoiding the need for residential facilities. “And obviously long-term it saves the government a lot of money because it’s a short, sharp treatment with great results, that gets people back to work, back into education.”