OCD
Ayla works with adults experiencing OCD and intrusive thoughts, leading them to engage in reassurance seeking, avoidance, perfectionism, intolerance of uncertainty, and difficulty tolerating doubt. Treatment may incorporate Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and other evidence-based approaches.
Anxiety
Ayla helps adults navigate excessive worry, perfectionism, uncertainty, decision-making difficulties, self-doubt, and anxiety surrounding relationships and major life transitions. Treatment draws from CBT, DBT, mindfulness-based approaches, and exposure-based strategies.
Perinatal Mental Health
Ayla specializes in supporting individuals during pregnancy, postpartum, and the transition to parenthood. She works with pregnancy and postpartum anxiety, perinatal OCD, intrusive thoughts, infertility, difficult pregnancy experiences, and concerns about being a “good enough” parent.
Ayla Sitt, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist | OCD, Anxiety & Perinatal Mental Health
Ayla Sitt is a clinical psychologist specializing in the treatment of OCD, anxiety disorders, and perinatal mental health concerns. She works with adults navigating intrusive thoughts, excessive worry, perfectionism, uncertainty, self-doubt, and major life transitions, as well as the emotional challenges that can arise during pregnancy, postpartum, infertility, and the transition to parenthood.
Ayla utilizes a warm, collaborative, evidence-based approach to therapy.
My Approach to Therapy
Ayla takes a warm, collaborative, and practical approach to therapy. She believes that therapy works best when the therapist and client work together as a team—creating a space where clients feel understood while also being encouraged to make meaningful changes.
Her approach draws primarily from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and mindfulness-based approaches. Treatment is individualized based on each client's needs, goals, and presenting concerns.
For clients with OCD and anxiety, treatment may focus on changing patterns of avoidance and reassurance seeking, building tolerance for uncertainty, approaching situations that anxiety has encouraged a client to avoid, and learning to respond differently to difficult thoughts and emotions.
Ayla's style is compassionate and direct, with an emphasis on providing clients with practical tools they can use both inside and outside of therapy. She also believes that therapy doesn't always have to feel heavy—when appropriate, she incorporates humor into her work and values creating a therapeutic relationship that feels genuine, comfortable, and human.
Perinatal Mental Health
The transition to parenthood can bring enormous changes—emotionally, physically, and practically. While pregnancy and becoming a parent can be joyful, they can also bring anxiety, uncertainty, intrusive thoughts, and a sense of responsibility that can feel overwhelming.
Ayla works with individuals throughout pregnancy, postpartum, and the transition to parenthood, providing support for concerns including perinatal anxiety, postpartum anxiety, perinatal OCD, intrusive thoughts, worries about being a “good enough” parent, and difficulty adjusting to the demands of parenthood.
She also works with individuals navigating infertility, difficult or traumatic pregnancy experiences, pregnancy after a challenging prior experience, and the emotional complexities that can accompany these experiences.
Ayla's approach is grounded in evidence-based treatment while recognizing that every pregnancy, postpartum experience, and transition to parenthood is different. Therapy provides a space to better understand patterns of anxiety, develop practical coping skills, and learn to respond differently to difficult thoughts and emotions without judgment.
OCD
Ayla specializes in working with adults experiencing Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), including intrusive thoughts, excessive doubt, reassurance seeking, avoidance, perfectionism, and difficulty tolerating uncertainty.
Treatment often incorporates Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), an evidence-based treatment for OCD. Ayla helps clients gradually approach situations, thoughts, and uncertainties that anxiety has encouraged them to avoid, while learning to reduce compulsive behaviors such as reassurance seeking, checking, avoidance, and mental rituals.
Ayla works with a range of OCD presentations, including concerns related to relationships, health, harm, responsibility, morality, contamination, and other intrusive thoughts. Therapy is individualized to each client's specific symptoms and goals, with an emphasis on building confidence in one's ability to tolerate uncertainty rather than achieving complete certainty or eliminating unwanted thoughts.
What to Expect in Therapy
Therapy with Ayla is collaborative, practical, and tailored to each client's needs. Together, you will identify patterns that may be keeping you stuck, develop a clearer understanding of what is contributing to your anxiety or distress, and work toward meaningful changes in your day-to-day life.
Depending on your goals and concerns, therapy may include learning new coping strategies, challenging unhelpful thinking patterns, practicing skills between sessions, gradually approaching situations that anxiety has encouraged you to avoid, and developing greater comfort with uncertainty and difficult emotions.
Ayla believes that therapy should be both supportive and active. She provides guidance and feedback while helping clients build the skills and confidence to become more independent in managing challenges outside of therapy.
Sessions are a place to feel understood without judgment, while also being gently challenged when it can help you move forward.
Who I Work With
Ayla works with adults across different stages of life, including individuals navigating anxiety, OCD, perinatal mental health concerns, relationship challenges, and major life transitions.
She works with clients who may be struggling with:
OCD and intrusive thoughts
Anxiety and excessive worry
Perfectionism and self-criticism
Reassurance seeking and difficulty tolerating uncertainty
Decision-making and self-doubt
Pregnancy and postpartum concerns
Perinatal OCD and intrusive thoughts
Infertility and difficult pregnancy experiences
Adjusting to parenthood and worries about being a “good enough” parent
Major life transitions and changes in relationships, family, or identity
Ayla's goal is to help clients better understand their patterns, develop practical skills, and build greater confidence in navigating life's challenges.
Location & Availability
Ayla provides virtual therapy to clients in New York, New Jersey, and California. She also offers in-person therapy in Brooklyn, New York, at select times.
She is licensed to provide psychological services in New York, New Jersey, and California.
Ayla works primarily with adults throughout these states and offers a free phone consultation for prospective clients who would like to discuss their needs and determine whether therapy with her may be a good fit.