Leanne Watt, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist in Pasadena, CA practicing for more than 20 years (License #PSY13321). In 1991, Dr. Watt received her doctorate in clinical psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary's School of Psychology, an APA-accredited doctoral program. Dr. Watt also completed her APA-Approved, pre-doctoral internship at the University of Southern California, where she provided outpatient psychotherapy to USC’s undergraduate and graduate student population, in 1991.

In 1992, Dr. Watt completed her first post-doctoral fellowship in clinical psychology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, an APA-approved site. Here she provided psychotherapy treatment and neuropsychological testing to an outpatient psychiatric population. During her fellowship at Harbor-UCLA, Dr. Watt also served as an assistant professor to pre-doctoral interns and psychology clerks at UCLA Medical Center’s HIV Outpatient Clinic, supervising outpatient psychotherapy cases.

During her UCLA clinical post-doc, Dr. Watt was awarded a research grant in psychoneuroimmunology from UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute (NPI), based upon her previous doctoral dissertation research exploring the relationship between anger expressivity and immune function in HIV+ patients. Her dissertation study found that subjects who were more expressive of their anger had enhanced immune functioning and were long-term HIV survivors.

Between 1992 and 1994, Dr. Watt completed an NIH (National Institute of Health) post-doctoral fellowship in neuropsychology research at Keck School of Medicine of USC’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Dr. Watt’s research, investigating the association between estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) and cognitive skills in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), found that ERT provided a buffer against certain memory and neuropsychological defects associated with AD.

Throughout Dr. Watt’s years in training, as well as in private practice as a Pasadena psychologist, she has stayed active in the psychoanalytic community, attending conferences and participating in her own analysis, out of a desire to provide her psychotherapy patients with the most conscious level of care. She has paid particular attention to the increasing intersection between neuroscience research findings and the practice of psychotherapy, as the empirical evidence continues to unfold illustrating the neurobiologic benefits of good psychotherapy. She also draws upon her research background in psychoneuroimmunology, with a special appreciation for how psychological states and traits impact the health and functioning of the physical body. (See Approach to Treatment for more details on these subjects.)

PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS

Henderson, V., Watt, L. E., Buckwalter, J. G. (1996). Cognitive skills associated with estrogen replacement in women with Alzheimer’s Disease. Psychoneuroendocrinology, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 421-430.

Watt, L. E., Buckwalter, J. G., Henderson, V. (2/94). Estrogen replacement therapy and cognitive performance of women with Alzheimer’s Disease. Paper presented at International Neuropsychological Society Conference, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Watt, L. E., Lipsker, L., Buckwalter, J. G. (June, 1992). The relationship of anger expressivity to HIV immune status. Poster presented at American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology, San Diego, CA.

HONORS & MEMBERSHIPS

• Best Postdoctoral Submission, First Runner-up, Nelson Butters Prize: 1994 North American meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society
• Psi Chi National Honor Society, Lifetime member