A New Approach to OCD: Internal Family Systems w/ Melissa Mose

In this deeply informative episode, I'm joined by licensed marriage and family therapist Melissa Mose, LMFT, who brings 30 years of clinical experience to the table and a unique approach to treating OCD by integrating Internal Family Systems (IFS) with traditional methods like Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP).

Melissa shares how a personal experience—her daughter's sudden-onset OCD—propelled her into the world of OCD treatment and changed the direction of her career. We talk through how OCD manifests, why traditional ERP can be both life-changing and difficult for people, and how IFS can offer a more compassionate, effective way to approach healing by helping clients access their internal "Self."

We also discuss Melissa's new book for clinicians, her training work, and the upcoming OCD SoCal Conference happening online on November 15–16, 2025.

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🧠 What We Discuss in This Episode:

• Melissa's unexpected path from literature and mythology to psychotherapy

• The sudden-onset OCD experience with her daughter that changed everything

• What OCD really is – beyond stereotypes – and why it's often misunderstood

• Core concepts of ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention)

• How Internal Family Systems (IFS) works and its 8 C's of Self-energy

• Why combining IFS and ERP may provide better outcomes for some people

• "Self-led ERP" – Melissa's integrative model for treating OCD

• Real-life examples of recovery using this compassionate framework

• The importance of identifying OCD early, especially in kids

• Training efforts to help clinicians recognize and effectively treat OCD

• Hope for those who feel "too far gone"

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⏱️ Episode Chapters & Timestamps:

00:00 – Intro to Melissa Mose and IFS for OCD
03:00 – Melissa's background and shift from English literature to psychology
08:00 – Early career in teen and family systems therapy
11:00 – Her daughter's sudden-onset OCD and the diagnosis of PANDAS
14:30 – Navigating confusion, misdiagnosis, and treatment discovery
18:00 – What OCD actually is: the obsession-compulsion cycle
22:00 – How compulsions generalize and worsen OCD
24:30 – Introduction to ERP and how it works
29:00 – What is Internal Family Systems (IFS)?
34:00 – Comparing IFS to ACT and other models
42:00 – Mapping OCD symptoms to internal "parts" using IFS
48:00 – A self-led approach to ERP: empowering the Self
50:30 – Client success stories and examples
55:00 – The rise of IFS in the OCD world
58:00 – Is IFS evidence-based for OCD?
01:00:00 – Melissa's "Self-led ERP" model explained
01:02:00 – Workbook and practical tools coming soon
01:04:00 – How to get started with IFS
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