President
Nolan Blair is serving as President for OCD South Carolina. He works at a marketing agency in the Upstate. He lives with OCD. He has since he was in elementary school. Nolan’s had a long and windy road with OCD. But now it’s a partner of his, not an enemy. Now Nolan is hoping to use his voice to spread awareness about OCD.
Vice President
Virginia Cooper received her undergraduate degree from Kenyon College, a small liberal arts college in Ohio, and her MA and PhD degrees in clinical psychology from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. She has been licensed as a clinical psychologist in South Carolina since 2008. Since beginning her career in 1994, Dr. Cooper has worked in private and public hospitals, acute inpatient as well as chronic inpatient psychiatric words, psychological clinics and academic settings, forensic hospitals and correctional facilities, as well as private outpatient practices. Dr. Cooper treats adults and adolescents ages 16 and up with complaints of anxiety, worry, obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors, depression, grief and loss, adjustment issues, and relationship problems. Her work is typically cognitive behavioral, with the inclusion of other modalities such as exposure and response prevention, communication training, and mindfulness when appropriate. She has been treating OCD since 2014, and it is among the most rewarding work she has done. Dr. Cooper has attended IOCDF conferences, and consults with experts on the IOCDF clinical and scientific advisory board as needed. She is married to Marc Cooper, a psychiatrist who works at a Veteran’s Administration medical center, and they have two teenage children.
Event Coordinator
Dr. Brittany Rudy is a licensed clinical psychologist who completed her Ph.D. from Louisiana State University (LSU). Dr. Rudy is a native to Greenville, SC who graduated from Clemson University for undergraduate studies. She and her husband returned to the Greenville area following her post-doctoral fellowship to begin a family and are the proud parents of a daughter and a son. During her postgraduate training, Dr. Rudy specialized in research supported strategies for the assessment and treatment of OCD, anxiety and related disorders, with special concentration in pediatrics. She completed a specialty fellowship conducting ERP and related techniques in intensive and non-intensive formats at an OCD and anxiety specialty clinic under the advisement of Dr. Eric Storch. Dr. Rudy also has specific training in the assessment and treatment of anxiety and behavior problems in young children, below the age of 8 years. Dr. Rudy currently works in private practice with Vive- Center for Psychological Services in the Greenville area, serving as the Clinical Director in addition to providing specialty treatment services for OCD and anxiety disorders.
Secretary
Jesse Williams is thrilled to bring her passion for mental health advocacy to OCDSC. Her professional background is in revenue management, but these days you can find her working on her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling and pursuing licensure as a LPC. Jesse has lived with OCD her entire life. The road hasn’t been easy, but through her experience she’s found strength she didn’t know she had and community with some of the most inspiring people around. She is driven to help other people do the same.
Community Connections and Outreach
Dr. Kenneth Phelps is an Associate Clinical Professor of Neuropsychiatry and Adjunct Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics within the Neurology Division at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. Dr. Phelps is originally from North Carolina, completing his education at East Carolina University in Medical Family Therapy. Within his graduate studies, he was one of the first researchers to publish on the co-existence of stress and enrichment for parents/caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Following his doctoral studies, he traveled to New Hampshire to complete an internship at NH Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency. Shortly after graduation in 2010, Dr. Phelps pursued advanced training in the management of Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Since then, he has spent roughly half of his faculty appointment treating youth to young adults living with OCD, anxiety, and/or tics. Within Prisma Health, Dr. Phelps currently serves as the director of the Outpatient Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic, co-director of the Tourette Center of South Carolina (TiC SC), and educator within multiple psychiatry residency programs. He also serves on the Medical Advisory Board for the Tourette Association of America (TAA) and as a supervisor within the TAA’s Behavioral Therapy Institute.
Digital Media
Emily Busby is a musician in the Greenville area who lives with OCD. After several years of severe OCD that kept her sidelined from life, she is grateful that OCD no longer runs the show and she has the freedom to get back to all of the things that are important to her. One of those important things is obviously music, but another is finding ways to help others, which is why she joined OCDSC. Emily is passionate about linking people with OCD to resources that can help them overcome their challenges and is thrilled to have the opportunity to do that through OCDSC.