BTTI 2026: Where Clinicians Actually Learn to Run ERP for OCD
- The IOCDF Behavior Therapy Training Institute (BTTI) runs ten cohorts in 2026 — eight virtual sessions (5 half-days each) plus one in-person General BTTI in St. Louis, MO on June 5–7, and a BTTI Virtual en Español on November 5–9. Pediatric and General tracks alternate through the year.
- Tuition is USD 685 for virtual cohorts and USD 750 for the in-person St. Louis session. The fee bundles CE credits and three post-training group consultation calls — meaning the price covers ongoing case discussion, not only didactic hours.
- CE credits are issued for psychologists, social workers, and mental health counselors; the exact hour count is published per cohort before registration opens. CE registration is automatic when you sign up.
- Eligibility is narrow: an *independent* clinical licence is required (no supervisees, no trainees) and you can attend the General OR the Pediatric track — not both. Scholarships exist (USD 125 fee + free IOCDF membership) for BIPOC clinicians, non-English-language therapists, and those serving underserved populations.
The shortage of ERP-trained clinicians is the single most cited reason OCD goes undertreated, and it does not resolve with reading Foa and Yadin or watching a webinar series. ERP is a procedural skill — exposure hierarchy construction, response-prevention contracting, in-session behavioural coaching — and skills require live faculty feedback. The BTTI is the only OCD-specific training programme run continuously since 1995 by the field's clinical board (members of the IOCDF Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board), and the post-training consultation calls are what separate it from a CE marathon.
For a clinician who already does CBT for anxiety but feels under-equipped on OCD's harder presentations — contamination with covert reassurance, scrupulosity, harm obsessions, "just-right" sensory variants, paediatric family-accommodation cases — this is the standard entry point. Most attendees report that the Pediatric track is the right choice if you see any youth in your practice, because family accommodation work is a separate skill set you cannot pick up in the General cohort.
What you actually get
Three days in-person (St. Louis, June 5–7) or five half-days online. Faculty are senior OCD clinicians, several of whom hold board appointments at McLean OCD Institute, OCDI Jr., or the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety. Curriculum covers ERP fundamentals, hierarchy construction, response-prevention planning, family work, treatment of OCD subtypes, and case management of treatment-resistant presentations. Three post-training group consultation calls are bundled — this is where supervised case formulation actually happens and where most clinicians report the training "lands."
CE credit counts vary by cohort and are posted before registration. The price already includes them, which is unusual for OCD trainings (PESI, Beck Institute, and most online providers charge separately).
Who should apply
If you are an independently licensed psychologist, LCSW, LMFT, or LMHC currently seeing OCD patients and you have not formally trained in ERP — this is the right programme. If you have not yet completed full licensure, wait until you do; the BTTI does not admit pre-licensed clinicians. If you primarily see adults but occasionally see adolescents, the Pediatric track is the better fit.
Practical points: registration is via a waitlist (BTTI Interest List), with offers extended in submission order. The in-person St. Louis cohort will fill first; virtual cohorts run multiple times per year so missing one is not catastrophic. For non-US clinicians, the virtual cohorts are accessible — the licensure check, however, applies to your home jurisdiction's equivalent of independent practice.
ERP is a procedural skill — you cannot pick it up from a textbook, and the BTTI is the field's standard answer to that.
US-centric programme; CE credits are issued under US accreditation bodies and may not transfer to non-US licensure renewal. The independent-licence requirement excludes residents, postdocs, and pre-licensure clinicians. The BIPOC and Spanish-language tracks address access within the US specifically.