Judy Gerstenblith

Judy Gerstenblith, Ph.D., (she/her) is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Danielsen Institute. She completed her doctoral internship in Health Service Psychology at Pace University Counseling Center in New York City and received her doctorate in Counseling Psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park. For her dissertation, Dr. Gerstenblith conducted a longitudinal analysis exploring the relationship between client attachment style and therapist interventions. Dr. Gerstenblith’s research interests include addressing burnout and cultivating well-being in helping professionals, the process of therapy for religious/spiritual clients, spiritual formation of religious leaders, the role of attachment in the therapeutic relationship, the impact of clinical supervision on client outcome, training and supervision of therapists, and the ways in which therapists work with existential themes (e.g., dreams, meaning in life, death) in psychotherapy.

Clinically, Dr. Gerstenblith enjoys working with individuals, couples, and groups to help them increase their awareness of and insight into their internal world and relational dynamics, with the goal of improving their quality of life. Dr. Gerstenblith believes that therapy is a collaborative process, with each member working together to facilitate growth. Dr. Gerstenblith primarily works from an attachment-informed, culturally responsive, contemporary psychodynamic approach, while integrating other techniques to meet each person and their unique situation. She has worked in a variety of clinical settings, including university counseling centers, community mental health clinics, and psychiatric hospitals, and has training in trauma, grief, disordered eating, body image concerns, relationship issues, family-of-origin complications, identity development, and career exploration.