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Preliminary Exploration of the Efficacy and Cognitive Neural Mechanisms of Group Natural Psychotherapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Poster Session A - Saturday, March 7, 2026, 3:00 – 5:00 pm PST, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballrooms

Xiangyang Zhang¹, Rongrong Zhu², Qihui Guo³, Dongmei Wang⁴; ¹Tsinghua University, ²Chinese Academy of Sciences, ³University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Background: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common mental disorder that significantly impair daily life and social functioning. To explore more effective interventions for OCD, this study investigated the therapeutic efficacy of a group natural psychotherapy and its underlying cognitive neural mechanisms. Methods: Forty Chinese patients with mild-to-moderate OCD participated in an 8-week group natural psychotherapy program, consisting of 8 in-person group sessions and daily homework assignments. OCD symptoms were assessed at baseline (week 0), post-intervention (week 8), and follow-up (week 12). Inclusion criteria were: meeting DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for OCD and aged between 18 and 60 years. Efficacy was measured using the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). Cognitive function and task-state neural activity were assessed using event-related potentials (ERPs) combined with an emotional Stroop task and a stop-signal task (SST). Resting-state neural activity was recorded using fMRI. Results: Following the group intervention, patients exhibited a significant reduction in Y-BOCS scores. The response rate was 60% (24/40) at week 8 and 57.5% (23/40) at week 12, with a dropout rate of 2.5%. Regarding cognitive inhibition, patients showed significantly reduced reaction times and a decreased Stroop effect post-intervention; these cognitive changes positively correlated with symptom improvement. For behavioral inhibition, functional connectivity significantly increased between the right anterior insula and the right superior temporal gyrus, and between the right thalamus and midbrain. Changes in right thalamus-midbrain connectivity were associated with improvements in behavioral inhibition ability (β=0.103, p=0.023, R²=0.106). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that group natural psychotherapy holds promise for improving OCD symptoms.

Topic Area: EXECUTIVE PROCESSES: Monitoring & inhibitory control