The University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI) is pleased to announce that its 2010-2011 University Distinguished Lecturer Series will continue with a presentation by Dr. David Tolin, founder and director of the Anxiety Disorders Center at the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut.

Tolin will deliver his talk, Buried in Treasures: The Nature and Treatment of Compulsive Hoarding, on Tuesday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. in the university’s campus center. His presentation will include information about compulsive hoarding, the root causes of this common and potentially disabling problem, along with current treatments being used to help people manage the symptoms more effectively. It is estimated that up to 2 million people in the United States may be affected by compulsive hoarding.

In 2000 Tolin founded the Anxiety Disorders Center at the Institute of Living, one of the first mental health centers in the United States. The Center is nationally recognized for its expert treatment of anxiety and related disorders and associated research. He is also an adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine, an American Board of Professional Psychology board-certified clinical psychologist, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Clinical Psychology. An expert on cognitive-behavioral therapy, Tolin has also been a principle investigator and scientific reviewer for the National Institutes of Health since 2003.

Tolin received his PhD from the University of Arkansas and completed a pre-doctoral internship at Tufts University School of Medicine/VA Medical Center in Boston. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Contribution to the Science of Psychology Award from the Connecticut Psychological Association and the Early Career Award from the Anxiety Disorders Special Interest Group of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy.

Tolin is particularly interested in cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders in adults and children including obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and panic disorder. He also focuses on the nature and treatment of compulsive hoarding and body-focused repetitive behaviors such as trichotillomania; the abnormal desire to pull out one’s hair.

In addition to authoring more than 100 journal articles and book chapters, including co-authoring Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding and Treating Trichotillomania: Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Hair Pulling and Related Problems, Tolin has been involved in over 180 research presentations to national and international organizations.

Tolin has been a frequent guest on several television programs including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show, The Today Show. He has been a featured expert on the A&E Series Hoarders and was the lead expert on the VH-1 series The OCD Project.

“We are pleased to have someone with Dr. Tolin’s expertise visit our campus as part of our Distinguished Lecturer Series,” said Dr. Michael Sonntag, UMPI vice president for academic affairs. “We believe that the topic and his depth of knowledge about it will interest and engage both our students and the community.”

The University Distinguished Lecturer Series (UDLS) was established in 1999. Each year, the UDLS Committee sponsors five to six speakers who come from Maine and beyond, representing a range of disciplines and viewpoints. While the emphasis tends to be on featuring visiting academics, it is not exclusively so. The speakers typically spend two days at the University meeting with classes and presenting a community lecture.

Tolin’s lecture is free, and the public is invited to attend. For more information, contact the University’s Community and Media Relations Office at 768-9452.