Ayden Ferstenberg, PsyD

Written By Dawn Johnson

Areas of specialization

  • Anxiety and depression

  • Self esteem and people pleasing

  • Sex therapy

  • Trauma, abuse and emotional neglect

  • Couples/Family Therapy and relationships

I offer individual therapy, sex therapy, and couples/family counseling to clients in the Washington, DC area and 40+ PSYPACT states, with daytime and evening telehealth appointments available. Many of my clients are high-functioning, capable people who have spent years meeting expectations, pushing through challenges and caring for others, yet still feel stuck, disconnected, or dissatisfied. They come to therapy seeking relief from anxiety, depression, self-criticism, and people-pleasing, as well as support with relationship challenges, intimacy and sexuality concerns, trauma and emotional neglect, and building a deeper connection with themselves and others.

I am an active therapist, guiding you through counteractive change (skills to counteract automatic tendencies) and unlearning (identifying internal rules that direct your life). Together, we slow things down, explore what is happening beneath the surface, and work directly with emotions, bodily experiences, and relationship patterns. I am transparent about my thought process and often share the neuroscience and psychology behind techniques, helping you understand not just what we are doing, but why.

My approach to sex therapy is both sex positive and trauma informed. As a sex therapist, I use evidence-based approaches and a supportive space to help you understand, explore, and transform the influences that shape your sexuality in order to build a more vibrant, embodied, and satisfying relationship with pleasure, desire, intimacy, and connection with yourself and others. In couples therapy, I welcome heterosexual, LGBTQ+ and non-monogamous partners, as well as clients with strong faith identities. I also offer relationship counseling for adult family members (adult children/parents; adult sibling groups) navigating wounds old and new.

I have extensive training in sex therapy, the Gottman Method, Pragmatic Experiential Therapy for Couples (PET-C), STAIR (self-trust and integrated resilience), Coherence Therapy, ACT, and CBT, and regularly incorporate IFS and AEDP techniques into my work. I have also completed specialized training in supporting clients impacted by cancer or caregiving. 

Over time, I work to help you develop greater self-trust, a more coherent understanding of themselves and their experiences, and the ability to respond to life from choice rather than old survival strategies. Together, we strengthen trust, intimacy, communication, security, and the capacity for vulnerability and closeness, aiming to create relationships that feel deeply connected, emotionally attuned, and erotically alive. 

Licensed Clinical PsychologistPsyD in Clinical Psychology

Offering sessions via telehealth to clients based in:DC, Maryland, Virginia, New York and all 40+ PSYPACT participating states.

Daytime and evening appointments available.

Schedule a Consultation
 

Our providers

Featured
Ayden Ferstenberg, PsyD
Ayden Ferstenberg, PsyD

Ayden offers individual therapy, sex therapy and couples therapy, including evening sessions. Her style is active, trauma-informed, and grounded in evidence-based therapies, helping clients understand and change longstanding patterns while building greater self-trust, connection, and resilience. Ayden works with individuals, couples, and families seeking deeper relationships, improved communication, emotional healing, and a more satisfying and authentic life.

Ashley Alderette, PsyD
Ashley Alderette, PsyD

Ashley’s approach emphasizes the use of specific tools and strategies to help adolescents and adults reduce distress, develop more flexible thinking, feel more connected in relationships, and address tendencies towards perfectionism and rigidity. She has a warm, collaborative and empowering therapeutic style, with expertise in anxiety, depression, relationships, life transitions, work/life balance, perfectionism and eating disorders.

Amy Goldfrank, LICSW
Amy Goldfrank, LICSW

Amy strives for clients to feel supported and guided as they work towards growth and change. She specializes in anxiety, depression, relationships, self-criticism, perfectionism, and life transitions (e.g., graduation, parenthood and career changes).  Amy's style blends tangible tools with broader insight, all while strengthening a sense of agency so that clients can feel empowered to make and sustain meaningful change.

Sydney Rosen, PsyD
Sydney Rosen, PsyD

Sydney works from an attachment perspective, helping clients to better understand themselves and their relationships. She combines insight-oriented approaches with CBT/DBT skills, and has expertise in anxiety and depression, life transitions, family of origin conflict, identity development, body image, self-esteem and relationships, including non-monogamy.

Sharon Schonteich, PhD
Sharon Schonteich, PhD

Sharon specializes in supporting professionals navigating high-pressure careers, leadership demands, life transitions, and relationship challenges. Her clinical approach blends skill-building with emotional insight in a solutions-focused, strengths-based, and gently challenging style. Sharon helps clients to reduce overwhelm, clarify priorities, and move forward with confidence, and has particular expertise in working with global professionals, infertility, the perinatal period, and parenting while sustaining demanding careers.

Annalise Perricone, PhD
Annalise Perricone, PhD

Annalise integrates cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and insight-oriented approaches to help clients feel seen, valued, and supported as they work toward meaningful growth and change. She provides therapy for college students and adults, with a focus on those navigating demanding academic, professional, and military environments. Annalise specializes in therapy for anxiety, depression, relationship issues, low self-esteem and imposter syndrome. She is also trained in CBT for pain management and has extensive experience working with clients living with chronic illness and chronic pain.

Mandy Thompson, PsyD, ABPP
Mandy Thompson, PsyD, ABPP

Mandy brings a warm, collaborative and highly practical approach to therapy. She specializes in anxiety, including stress related to challenging work and academic environments, social anxiety and health anxiety. Mandy has particular expertise in the treatment of OCD and phobias, including fear of needles, vomiting (emetophobia), flying, heights, illness or contamination, using CBT and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) to help clients work towards their goals without feeling overwhelmed. She offers convenient morning and evening sessions via telehealth to clients in all 40+ PSYPACT states.

Dawn Johnson, PsyD
Dawn Johnson, PsyD

Dawn is the founder of our practice and has an engaging, interactive therapy style. Her approach blends concrete behavior change with a deep curiosity around the origins of your concerns so that we can understand how they developed and actively craft healthier patterns going forward. She has particular expertise in anxiety, disordered eating, career/academic stress, healthy relationship boundaries, and life transitions.

Dawn Johnson
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Ashley Alderette, PsyD