Laurie J, Patraitis

Laurie J. Patraitis, Ph.D., received her B.S. in psychology (minor in biology) from U.C. Davis and her doctorate in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, Fresno (now Alliant University). While in graduate school, she found herself drawn to treating patients from a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) perspective due to its structure, short-term length, and problem-focused, goal-oriented approach. To her, CBT made the most sense, given her scientific background and how studies have shown its effectiveness with certain disorders such as anxiety disorders. She began working with patients using exposure therapy and response prevention (ERP) to treat conditions such as panic disorder, OCD, and eating disorders and began to recognize her passion for anxiety disorders. Dr. Patraitis pursued this “calling” during her internship and fellowship years at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School on the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Unit. While there, she began collecting data for her dissertation which focused on OCD and Tourette’s Disorder. She then fine-tuned her specialties during her postdoctoral and fellowship years as the Anxiety Disorders Specialist on the Behavioral Medicine Unit at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center/Dartmouth University. While at Dartmouth, she worked primarily with patients having panic disorder, OCD, social phobia, simple phobias, and affective disorders. Subsequently, she became the Director of Behavioral Health for a national retail company, providing mental health services to employees for a number of years. Dr. Patraitis has over two decades of experience utilizing CBT and ERP and decided to return to her roots and focus on working primarily with anxiety disorders such as OCD and panic disorder. She is excited to be at the Gateway Institute where she can pursue her calling and utilize her experience and expertise.