Welcome to Season 15 — a new chapter of truth-telling, soft landings, bravery, and conversations that remind us there is so much more to each of us than the fears we carry.
This week we’re opening the season with a deeply grounding episode featuring someone who understands anxiety and OCD with clarity, compassion, and lived experience as a clinician: Dr. Melissa Dufrene.
📅 Episode drops: Tuesday, December 2, 2025 at 3 AM ET Melissa on OCD & Anxiety Recovery: Real Tools That Actually Help
Let’s get into it.
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🚗 What’s Up with G-Rex & Dirty Skittles
From G-Rex: This Thanksgiving was the first in five years where we didn’t host — and holy hell, my soul needed that break. We went to a friend’s house with incredible food, great people, and I made a GF/DF Maple Bourbon Pumpkin Pie so good I briefly considered quitting all responsibilities to become a pie witch. My wife made her famous cranberry salad, and yes — I baked a ham because Turkey and I have unresolved differences.
Then I did something radical: I disconnected for three entire days. No laptop. No TV. Just quiet, books, rest, and letting myself breathe for the first time in a minute.
And yes — I’m now deeply, aggressively invested in a book series because Dirty Skittles told me to read it. So if you hear me talking about dragons like they’re my coworkers… blame her.
From Dirty Skittles: She spent the holiday at her parents’ place, ate everything in sight, and soaked up the kind of family time that reminds you why going home matters.
📚 Fiction That Feels Real: Why This Dragon Book Hit Me in the Mental Health Feels
Okay, real talk: I 100% blame Dirty Skittles for getting me hooked on this damn series.
I picked it up expecting dragons and fun escapism. Instead, I ended up highlighting passages, yelling at fictional people, and having emotional revelations between battle scenes.
What I didn’t expect?
This fantasy world hit harder on mental health than most nonfiction does.
Because Violet Sorrengail isn’t just fighting monsters — she’s fighting the same things we talk about every week:
chronic pain
trauma responses
complicated grief
impossible expectations
being underestimated because you don’t “look” strong
Around midnight, somewhere deep in a chapter, I caught myself thinking:
“Even in fantasy, the emotional truth is real.”
Violet isn’t fearless — she’s terrified. And she moves anyway.
That’s mental health work. That’s healing. That’s us.
3 Things Violet Taught Me This Week
1️⃣ You don’t have to be the strongest in the room to matter. 2️⃣ Grief is messy — especially when the love was messy too. 3️⃣ Being underestimated? That’s fuel.
So yes, a dragon rider cracked open some truth for me this week. And if you’re reading something “just for fun,” pay attention — it might be speaking to the parts of you you’ve been ignoring.
(And again: Blame Dirty Skittles. Always.)
🎉 We’ve Been Nominated!
We’re thrilled to be nominated for Best Mental Health Podcast in the Podcast Tonight Awards — and this award is listener-driven.
Important Dates: • Voting ends December 25, 2025 • Shortlist announced January 26 • Winners announced February 28
Thank you for cheering us on.
🔥 Special Shout-Out to Women Supporting Women
🌟 Meet Angie Hawkins
Angie is an Inner Glow Coach helping high-achieving women stop shrinking themselves to be loved. She’s also the author of Running in Slippers, a powerful memoir about rebuilding after emotional rock bottom.
Some stories shake you. Some stories soften you. And some — like Melissa’s — gently rearrange the way you understand fear.
Dr. Melissa Dufrene has spent her life helping people navigate the relentless worlds inside their minds. But the power of this episode isn’t just her expertise — it’s her humanity.
She takes us into the invisible weight of OCD and anxiety — the intrusive thoughts, the rituals, the guilt, the exhaustion, the constant monitoring that no one else can see.
And she names a truth most people have never heard:
People aren’t struggling because they’re weak. They’re struggling because they’ve been fighting alone.
Melissa breaks down how avoidance — the thing that feels safe in the moment — slowly shrinks a life. One skipped event. One “maybe later.” One “just this once.” Until suddenly you’re living smaller than you deserve.
But she also shows what the turning point can look like. Not fearlessness — but willingness. Not perfection — but values. Not “fixing yourself” — but learning to walk beside fear instead of obeying it.
And then she offers something rare: a simple, compassionate roadmap for getting help when you don’t know where to start.
By the end of the conversation, you don’t just understand OCD and anxiety better — you understand yourself better.
This episode is about fear. But more than that? It’s about taking your life back from it.
🧩 From the Conversation
💬 The heartbeat of this episode
Healing from anxiety and OCD doesn’t start with conquering fear — it starts with understanding it. With seeing the patterns you’ve been living in. With realizing that avoidance isn’t protection… it’s limitation. And that you deserve a life bigger than the one fear has allowed you to have.
🫂 A quote that stuck with us
“You don’t rise by avoiding fear — you rise by walking with it.” — Dr. Melissa Dufrene
🎙️ Real Talk from Us
“When Melissa said people aren’t weak — they’re just fighting alone — it hit me right in the chest. That’s why we do this podcast. Nobody should have to navigate the noise in their mind by themselves.” — G-Rex
“The way Melissa talked about avoidance shrinking your life… whew. I felt that. Watching people reclaim their world inch by inch? That’s courage. That’s healing.” — Dirty Skittles
📓 Reflection Prompts to Sit With
Where is fear quietly steering your decisions?
What value do you want to move toward, even if fear comes with you?
What would “one tiny step” look like for you this week?
Who is someone safe you could tell the truth to?
🌱 Gentle Reminder
You don’t have to be fearless to begin. You just have to be willing — even a little — to let your life expand again.
👤 Meet Our Guest — Dr. Melissa Dufrene
If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like when science, compassion, and lived humanity come together in one person, meet Dr. Melissa Dufrene — clinical psychologist, clinic director, truth-teller, and the kind of grounded presence that makes you breathe easier the second she starts talking.
Melissa didn’t become an expert in OCD and anxiety by accident. Her path was built through years of sitting with people in their hardest moments — in inpatient hospitals, community clinics, schools, and one of the nation’s leading residential OCD treatment programs at Rogers Memorial Hospital.
That’s where she witnessed something life-shaping: people battling fear, shame, and intrusive thoughts with more resilience than they ever gave themselves credit for — and slowly reclaiming their lives.
Since then, she’s been driven by one mission: help people build a life bigger than their fears.
Before co-founding Rise Center for OCD & Anxiety, Melissa saw how many people were desperate for help but trapped in a mental health system that wasn’t built for them. So she built a different kind of place — one grounded in evidence-based treatment, cultural awareness, community education, and genuine human connection.
Today, she leads a team that believes in doing mental health care with heart: real tools, real support, and real understanding. Her approach blends ERP, ACT, humor, cultural context, and a belief that people deserve to feel seen long before they feel “fixed.”
Outside the therapy room, Melissa is a whole universe of joy: a mom to two boys, a scuba diver, a reader, a swimmer, a weightlifter, a lover of music, food, travel, and all the color and chaos that New Orleans brings.
Melissa embodies everything this podcast stands for: truth, courage, compassion, and the belief that no one should have to fight their mind alone.
You are not “too much” — you’ve just been carrying too much alone
️🔥 Actionable Steps
Write down your why before facing something scary
Choose one value-based action this week
Limit news/social intake if it spirals anxiety
Share one honest sentence with a safe person
Try the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique
Offer someone support with “getting help”
📚 Resources for Safety & Support
International OCD Foundation (IOCDF) - A central hub for finding OCD specialists, support, education, and community resources.
Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP) Providers - The gold-standard approach Melissa uses — research-backed, effective, and transformative when delivered by trained clinicians.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline - Available 24/7 for moments of overwhelm or crisis. Call, text, or chat anytime.
Telehealth Options - Especially for rural areas or anyone struggling to access specialty care locally — Melissa emphasized its importance.
Values-Based Therapies (ACT) - Melissa integrates ACT to help clients connect with their “why” and move toward the life they want, even when fear travels with them.
🙌 Listener Engagement
What part of Melissa’s story hit home for you? Reply to this email or tag @grex_and_dirtyskittles on Instagram — we love hearing your reflections.
⭐ Subscribe, Rate & Review
Your reviews help this podcast reach people who need conversations like this.
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❤️ Closing Remarks
If you made it here, take one breath — deep, slow, steady. That heartbeat you feel? That’s resilience. Even on the days it doesn’t feel like strength.
This episode is your reminder: You don’t have to be fearless. You don’t have to be fixed. You don’t have to be perfect to take up space in your own life.
You just have to keep going. One breath. One truth. One step.
We’re right here with you. Always.
— G-Rex & Dirty Skittles Changing the way we talk about mental health, one real convo at a time.
G-Rex & Dirty Skittles
It's ok to be not ok, just make sure you're talking to someone
