Dr. Leah Watson is a licensed clinical psychologist dedicated to helping children, adolescents, and families thrive. She is passionate about providing evidence-based, compassionate, and personalized care that empowers her clients to build resilience and achieve meaningful, lasting change. Dr. Watson creates an open, welcoming, and supportive environment where clients feel truly seen, heard, and understood.
Dr. Watson uses a collaborative and individualized approach, ensuring that each child and family receives a customized treatment plan designed to meet them exactly where they are. By blending research-supported methods with warmth and empathy, Dr. Watson helps families confidently address challenges, foster emotional growth, and build skills for success across all areas of life.
With experience across community, hospital, non-profit, and private practice settings, Dr. Watson has worked with children and teens facing a wide range of concerns, including behavioral challenges, neurodevelopmental differences, anxiety, depression, and trauma-related disorders. She also conducts comprehensive psychological evaluations, providing families with clarity and actionable recommendations to support their child’s educational, social, and emotional development.
Dr. Watson is certified in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and has advanced training in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). She is also highly skilled in the treatment of Selective Mutism (SM) and offers PCIT-SM, as well as group therapy for children with social anxiety and selective mutism at Caring Cove. In addition, she provides psychosocial and diagnostic evaluations, equipping families with valuable insights and guidance for supporting their child’s growth and wellbeing.
Dr. Watson earned her bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Biology from Clemson University and went on to receive her master’s and doctorate in Clinical Psychology from William Paterson University in New Jersey. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Westchester Institute for Human Development, where she gained specialized experience in child welfare, child advocacy, and behavioral health.
Outside of her clinical work, Dr. Watson enjoys spending quality time with her family and friends—often outdoors at the beach or lake. She loves cheering on her alma mater, Clemson (Go Tigers!) during football season, exploring new restaurants, reading, and staying active through pilates and spin classes.