ABOUT DR. GERSTEL

Therapy languages: English, Spanish

Pronouns: she/her

Dr. Gerstel is a licensed psychologist specializing in evidence-based treatment for adults who have OCD and anxiety related disorders. She received her B.A. in Psychology and Spanish from Manhattan College in 2011.  Dr. Gerstel spent three years at North Suffolk Mental Health Association doing In-Home Therapy and Therapeutic Mentoring for families and children with acute behavioral needs. She worked as a Research Analyst at Partners Connected Health, where she assisted with studies related to newly developed smartphone applications aimed at helping individuals better manage chronic health conditions.

Dr. Gerstel went on to receive her PsyD in Clinical Psychology from William James College. She completed a two-year APA internship at Clark University’s Center for Counseling & Personal Growth, where she provided individual psychotherapy, group therapy, ongoing crisis management, and co-supervised a peer support worker program to increase mental health supports on campus. She recently completed a post-doctoral residency at The Mindfulness and Change Group, LLC. , specializing in the treatment of anxiety- and OCD-related disorders.

Dr. Gerstel specializes in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure and response prevention (Ex/RP) for treating OCD, panic disorder, social anxiety, and specific phobias. Dr. Gerstel utilizes a client-centered approach to help build a comfortable environment for self-exploration and healing. She is passionate about creating a collaborative working alliance to identify treatment goals, assess outcome measures, and readjust treatment approaches as needed.

In addition, Dr. Gerstel’s has presented a number of posters at professional conferences related to sexual harassment, specifically street harassment and its relation to stereotype threat and objectification of women. She was recently published in the Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science as co-author of “Fidelity to the Inhibitory Learning Model, Functionality, and Availability of Free Anxiety Treatment Apps.” Her research interests include exposure and response prevention for anxiety disorders, availability of trainings for behavioral health providers in evidence-based anxiety treatments, and the use of technology to increase access to and compliment behavioral health treatments.