Melanie Nelson, PhD, earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and mathematics at Illinois Wesleyan University and received her doctorate in clinical child psychology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. She completed an APA-approved internship at Wayne State University working with children and families in various settings, including an inpatient psychiatric hospital, an outpatient clinic and hospital-based medical clinics. After her internship, she completed a three-year, postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Florida in the department of clinical and health psychology, during which she focused on treatment outcomes research.

From 2005 to 2013, Dr. Nelson was a faculty member at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. There, she specialized in clinical practice, training and research in disruptive behavior disorders and autism spectrum disorders for approximately seven years.

In 2014, Dr. Nelson joined the faculty at UF. She directs the parent-child interaction therapy, or PCIT, program at UF Health Psychiatry. PCIT is an empirically supported therapy designed for young children who are displaying disruptive behavior and was developed by Sheila Eyberg, MD, UF distinguished professor emeritus.

Dr. Nelson is one of only 20 Certified Master Trainers in PCIT in the U.S., and she supervises PCIT training and treatment at UF. She is also developing a research program to add to the evidence base that supports PCIT. Clinically, she specializes in assessment of and treatment for families with young children, ages 2 to 8, who have a wide range of concerns, including disruptive behavior, anxiety, depression, autism spectrum disorders and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.