Position:

Assistant Professor, Director of the Trauma, Diversity, and Systemic Change (TDSC) Lab

Contact Information:

kwatters@paloaltou.edu

Programs:

Clinical Psychology PhD

Education:

BA in Psychology with a minor in Applied Statistics - Sonoma State University (2015)

MA in Clinical Psychology - Pepperdine University (2017)

PhD in Clinical Psychology - Palo Alto University (2022) 

Biography:

Dr. Kayleigh Watters is an Assistant Professor at Palo Alto University and a licensed clinical psychologist in California (PSY 34749). She directs the Trauma, Diversity, and Systemic Change (TDSC) lab, where her research focuses on complex trauma, the impact of discrimination on trauma symptoms, sexual violence, and barriers to seeking services or reporting sexual violence. As an applied researcher, Dr. Watters uses research outcomes to advocate for changes in various settings.

Dr. Watters teaches courses in statistics, substance use, trauma, and psychopathology. Her expertise spans PTSD, complex trauma, grief, anxiety, and depression, developed through extensive training at institutions including the San Francisco VA and StarVista.

She earned her doctoral degree in clinical psychology with an emphasis in adult trauma from Palo Alto University. Dr. Watters completed her predoctoral internship at Oregon State University and her postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

Areas of Interest:

Sexual violence 

Interpersonal trauma 

Complex PTSD/ Trauma 

Reporting barriers 

Gender differences 

Suicide/ Self-harm 

Selected Publications:

Watters, K. N., & Yalch, M. M. (2023). Factors that influence college student acknowledgment of sexual assault. Traumatology.

Watters, K. N., & Yalch, M. M. (2022). Relative effects of sexual assault and other traumatic life events on self-harm. European Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 6(1), 100244.

Gallagher, A. R., Moreland, M. L., Watters, K. N., & Yalch, M. M. (2023). Relative effects of childhood trauma, intimate partner violence, and other traumatic life events on complex posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Traumatology, 29(1), 57.

Gregoire, A. H., & Watters, K. N. (2023). College Sexual Assault. In Encyclopedia of Sexual Psychology and Behavior (pp. 1-9). Cham: Springer International Publishing.