Meet Yael Dai, Ph.D.
Dr. Dai (Day) is a licensed clinical psychologist with specialized expertise in two core areas: anxiety and autism. She has been providing therapy since 2016, helping children, adolescents, and adults experience relief from anxiety, attain goals, improve mood, and strengthen their relationships.
She also leads a research program focused on improving diagnosis of autism and anxiety and developing accessible, engaging, interventions. She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and has presented her work at national and international conferences. In her role as a Professor, Dr. Dai has taught undergraduate and graduate Psychology courses and has trained clinical psychology Ph.D. students in assessment and therapy. She also regularly consults with fellow therapists—helping them adapt traditional mental-health treatments using neurodiversity-informed approaches.
Dr. Dai’s Training and Professional Background
Dr. Dai trained with leading experts in the fields of anxiety and autism. She graduated summa cum laude from Brandeis University with a BA in Psychology. She then pursued training at the Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital before earning her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Connecticut. During graduate school, Dr. Dai gained experience providing therapy to children with gastrointestinal conditions and comorbid anxiety at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, conducted individual and group cognitive behavioral therapy at the Anxiety Disorders Center at the Institute of Living, and provided family therapy at the Psychological Services Clinic at the University of Connecticut. She also obtained training in autism assessment using gold-standard diagnostic tools (e.g., the ADOS) and conducted research to improve early detection and intervention, under the mentorship of Dr. Deborah Fein. Dr. Dai completed her predoctoral internship at the Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she focused on assessment and treatment for autism and anxiety.