Dr. Pitula is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist specializing in individualized, evidence-based treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and problems with anxiety, stress, and trauma across the lifespan.  She leads The Arete Center’s OCD & Anxiety team and provides supervision for postdoctoral candidates and graduate-level interns.

Areas of Expertise

Dr. Pitula’s areas of expertise include OCD, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, specific phobias, panic disorder, adjustment disorders, “Failure to Launch,” avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) (or picky eating), chronic illness and pain, and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as co-occurring problems with mood, sleep, behavior, and communication. Dr. Pitula provides evidence-based interventions for children, adolescents, adults, and couples, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Exposure with Response Prevention (ERP), Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE), and Trauma-Focused CBT.

Telehealth

In addition to seeing clients at our practice in Centennial, Telepsychology services are available to clients outside Colorado in PSYPACT participating states.

Training & Certifications

Dr. Pitula completed her undergraduate degree at McGill University before moving to the United States for her PhD.  She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a dual doctoral degree in Developmental Psychopathology and Clinical Science and completed an APPIC-accredited predoctoral internship in Clinical Health Psychology at the University of Manitoba Health Sciences Center and a postdoctoral fellowship in the Pediatric Mental Health Institute at Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Dr Pitula is certified in the evidence-based social skills program, PEERS for Adolescents, through UCLA’s Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills.

Academic Appointments

Dr. Pitula previously held faculty appointments at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in the departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, where her roles included research, clinical supervision, and intensive outpatient care, and at the University of Denver, where she served as an adjunct clinical supervisor in the Center for Child and Family Therapy. 

Research

At the University of Colorado, she was the principal investigator on a multidisciplinary study of adjustment among youth and young adults with POTS, a chronic illness that affects the autonomic nervous system. Her previous research had investigated factors influencing social development, particularly among high-risk children and adolescents (e.g., internationally adopted and post-institutionalized children). Dr. Pitula’s research has been published in several peer-reviewed journals, including Child Development, Development and Psychopathology,Developmental Science, Psychoneuroendocrinology, The Behavior Therapist, and Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. 

Biographical Information

Originally from Quebec, Canada, Dr. Pitula moved to the United States and attended University of Minnesota while completing her master’s degree.  She now lives in Aurora with her husband, foster son, and two dogs and loves spending time outdoors, eating, traveling, hiking, and playing board games and volleyball.