Julia Hitch, Ph.D.
Dr. Hitch enjoys working with children, adolescents, families, and adults and takes a collaborative, evidence-based approach in her work with clients. She is particularly passionate about helping children and adolescents with OCD, anxiety-related problems, body-focused repetitive behaviors (e.g., hair pulling and skin-picking), and tics. It can often be difficult for parents to know how to effectively support their child with anxiety-related concerns and Dr. Hitch loves working with parents to provide behaviorally-based coaching.
Dr. Hitch earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Washington, where she gained extensive training and experience in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). She completed her clinical internship at UCLA in the general child track. While at UCLA, Dr. Hitch served as a therapist in the Childhood OCD, Anxiety & Tic Disorders Program (directed by Dr. John Piacentini), where she evaluated and provided evidence-based treatment to children and adolescents with OCD, anxiety, tic, and habit disorders. She also worked as a therapist in UCLA's Child OCD Intensive Treatment Program, where clients attended the program several hours per day and completed an intensive course of exposure and response prevention (ERP). In addition to her training in OCD and related disorders, Dr. Hitch previously completed training in prolonged exposure for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by Dr. Edna Foa at University of Pennsylvania's Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety. She served as a research therapist on a clinical trial of prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD, and was a skills group leader for a clinical trial of combined dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and prolonged exposure for individuals with comorbid PTSD and borderline personality disorder. Additionally, Dr. Hitch has experience providing therapy to children with medical problems and comorbid anxiety that was complicating their medical care. She is a member of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) and the American Psychological Association (APA).