Dr. Zechella holds a PSYPACT credential and as such can provide telehealth to clients in most states. Check to see if your state has enacted PSYPACT.
Specialties & Therapeutic Approach
Anusha Zechella, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist who uses primarily an interpersonal approach to her clinical work. Along with focusing on the therapeutic relationship as a tool to explore challenges and successes in relationships, she also incorporates skills from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Time Limited Dynamic Psychotherapy (TLDP), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) when working with clients. Using integrated, client-centered, feminist, and evidence-based approaches helps build trust and a mutual understanding of client’s difficulties while working on practical skills and tools to relieve distress. She has been trained to work with a variety of presenting problems, including anxiety, depression, trauma, LGBTQ issues, gender identity concerns, interpersonal violence, sexual assault, and adjustment difficulties. She has experience working with individuals, couples, and families across age groups.
Although she considers herself to be a generalist, Dr. Zechella also specializes in working with couples as they navigate their way through improving trust, communication, identifying areas of strength as well as difficulty in their relationship, and moving forward after infidelity and addiction. She approaches this work using Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), which focuses on the ways in which negative cycles and patterns of relating to others continue to perpetuate themselves in a romantic relationship and leave both partners feeling stuck. She also works with couples on ways to effectively support each other when one of them is struggling with depression, anxiety, life problems, or trauma. One of her main strengths in working with couples is helping them decide how to move forward with each other, either in a relationship or navigating a peaceful separation and divorce. She has many couples whom are in the process of separating, have already separated, or are considering separation and Dr. Zechella helps guide them through this emotional and challenging period by encouraging them to articulate their emotional needs and wants from each other and creating a plan that best meets everyone’s goals.
Dr. Zechella also works with families who are in distress, either after experiencing a trauma that has impacted one member of the family, or the entire family, in order to help facilitate communication and begin the healing process as a family unit. She has also worked with families in helping them transition their child to college by helping all family members learn effective coping skills in order for them to thrive. In her work with families, Dr. Zechella often meets with the parents and teenage children individually as well as all together to ensure that healthy and effective communication is being modeled as well as taught during the session.
Dr. Zechella also has specific training and experience with college students and young adults. She has worked at multiple college counseling centers and helped individuals struggling with issues ranging from homesickness to sexual assault and psychopathology. This work has helped her at Breyta Psychological Services, as she continues to work with young adults who are going through difficult periods of transition, whether it be navigating the college application process or exploring their sexual and gender identities.
Her expertise in evidence-based therapies includes:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Skills Training
- Time Limited Dynamic Psychotherapy (TLDP)
Education & Experience
Dr. Zechella received her B.S. in Psychology at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and her M.A. in Psychology at The Catholic University of America. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Miami University and completed her pre-doctoral internship at Counseling and Psychological Services at the University of North Carolina. She has received training in multiple settings, including a state inpatient psychiatric facility, community mental health centers, elementary schools, a university outpatient clinic, and college counseling centers. Dr. Zechella served as the director of the Sexual Assault Clinic within the Counseling and Psychological Services Program at the University of Cincinnati. There she provided care for individuals who identified as survivors of sexual harassment, misconduct, or assault. Dr. Zechella’s experience has given her significant expertise in treating trauma and gender-based violence.
Dr. Zechella was selected as a recipient of the 2018 Early Career Psychologist Credentialing Scholarship from the National Register of Health Service Psychologists.
Additional Trainings
- Dr. Zechella has completed extensive training in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) on Attachment-Based Interventions for Couples in Crisis