Melanie Dideriksen

I have dealt with OCD and anxiety my entire life, ever since I was little. I went back to school later in life to get my master's degree. I really wanted to be able to help other people who had similar experiences to mine. I felt like I could bring my own personal experience and do some effective work. My subtypes are health OCD and relationship OCD, along with morals and some pure OCD as well. My symptoms included rumination, researching, and reassurance-seeking from family members. I use ERP myself when I have little lapses or moments where I'll be triggered. I still go back to those skills.

I decided to specialize in ERP therapy for OCD because it is so effective. In my career, I've applied different types of treatment—I've done person-centered counseling and motivational interviewing—but I have seen the most results with exposure and response prevention. I specialize in ERP because I've dealt with OCD myself, but I also believe in this therapy. It's evidence-based, there's a lot of research backing it, and I've seen results with my members in a short amount of time.

I have done a lot of work with anxiety, trauma, and relationship issues. I have probably done the most work with substance abuse, including opioid addiction and alcoholism, and I am familiar with medication-assisted treatment as well as abstinence approaches. I've done a lot of work with children. Before I went back to school and became a therapist, I was a teacher, so I have a lot of early-childhood experience and a strong understanding of child development.

It's effective! We see the proof. People's lives are being changed by this, and that is exciting. NOCD has so many resources available to members—therapy, therapist and member advocate messaging, the connection between sessions. There are support groups that are led by therapists, so there's a lot of community offered from many different angles.

If you're afraid to share, tell me. It helps to start small. In exposure therapy, we start with little fears and work our way up to the bigger ones. I would recommend sharing the thoughts that elicit the least anxiety, then let's work our way up to sharing some of those scarier ones. You should also know that I have yet to be shocked by something somebody tells me as far as an intrusive thought.