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William H. Watson, Ph.D.

William H. Watson, Ph.D.

About Me

William H. Watson, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology) and Neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He is senior training faculty with the U of R Institute for the Family, a member of the Physician Faculty Communication Coaching Program team, family psychology t...
William H. Watson, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology) and Neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He is senior training faculty with the U of R Institute for the Family, a member of the Physician Faculty Communication Coaching Program team, family psychology training consultant to the Rochester Psychiatric Center, and consulting psychologist with the Strong Epilepsy Center. He is the recipient of numerous teaching awards from the URMC psychiatry residents, postdoctoral fellows, and MFT students. A member and Fellow of APA, he is past president of APA Division 43, The Society for Family Psychology, which named him the 2009 Family Psychologist of the Year. He is an American Group Psychotherapy Association-Certified Group Psychotherapist, has trained at the Center for Group Studies in NYC, and is on the board of the Rochester Area Society for Group Psychotherapy. He has also completed an IEDTA-Certified Core Training program in Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy with Allan Abbass, MD and Joel Town, PhD. He has presented locally and nationally on his areas of interest which include an emotional systems understanding of somatoform disorders, family systems in the workplace, the emotional development of healthcare providers, and spirituality in psychotherapy.

Faculty Appointments

Associate Professor - Department of Psychiatry, Family/Marriage (SMD)

Associate Professor - Department of Neurology, Epilepsy (SMD) - Joint

Credentials

Post-doctoral Training & Residency

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Family Therapy, Family and Marriage Clinic, Family Therapy Training Program, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, M. Duncan Stanton; Judith Landau Stanton 1986 - 1987

Education

PhD | Biola University. Clinical Psychology. 1985

MA | Biola University. Clinical Psychology. 1979

BA | Princeton University. Psychology. 1975

Awards

Rita P. Underberg, Ph.D. Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Psychology Training Program. 2021 - 2021

Otto Thaler Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions to Residency Education in Psychotherapy. 2020

Otto Thaler Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions to Residency Education in Psychotherapy. 2016

Otto Thaler Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions to Residency Education. 2013

American Psychological Association Family Psychologist of the Year. 2009

Fellow. 2008

Sidney Rubin Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions to Residency Education. 2008

Susan H. McDaniel Award for Excellence in Teaching. 2008 - 2009

American Board of Family Psychology Distinguished Service to Family Psychology Award. 2007

Rita P. Underberg, Ph.D. Award for Excellence in Teaching in the URMC Psychology Training Program. 2007

Society for Couple and Family Psychology Distinguished Service Award. 2005

Otto Thaler Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions to Residency Education. 2004

Susan H. McDaniel Award for Excellence in Teaching. 2003 - 2004

Publications

Journal Articles

Developing an outcome-based assessment for family therapy training: the Rochester Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation (ROSCE).

Le Roux P, Podgorski C, Rosenberg T, Watson WH, McDaniel S

Family process.. 2011 December 50 (4):544-60. Epub 1900 01 01.

Psychogenic non-epileptic attacks (PNEA) [Clinical Update Medical Series].

Watson, W. H. & Langfitt, J. T.

AAMFT Family Therapy Magazine. 2010; 9(5): 30-38.

Relational therapy in medical settings: Working with somatizing patients and their families

Watson, W. and McDaniel, S.

Journal of Clinical Psychology/In Session: Psychotherapy in Practice. 2000; 56(8): 1037-1050.

Soul and system: The integrative possibilities of family therapy

Watson, W.

Journal of Psychology and Theology. 1997; 25(1): 123-135.

The generic recursive epistobabble generator (G.R.E.G.)

Watson, W.

Journal of Marital and Family Therapy and Reprinted in the Journal of Irreproducible Results. 1991; 17(2): 187-188.

The generic recursive epistobabble generator (G.R.E.G.).

Watson, W.

Journal of Marital and Family Therapy

Books

Handbook on the Neuropsychology of Epilepsy (2015)

Chapter: Evaluation and management of psychogenic nonepileptic attacks

Authors: Langfitt, J. T. and Watson, W. H

Publisher: Springer, New York 2015

The Encyclopedia of Human Behavior (2012)

Chapter: Families Systems

Authors: Watson, W

Publisher: Academic Press, Burlington, MA 2012

Handbook of couples therapy (2005)

Chapter: Managing emotional reactivity in couples facing illness: Smoothing out the emotional roller coaster

Authors: Watson, W. and McDaniel, S.

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, New York 2005

Clinical epiphanies in marital and family therapy: A practitioner's casebook of (2002)

Chapter: "It's all about the dog": Family secrets, cutoffs, and abuse in a case of chronic depression

Authors: Watson, W., Landau, J., & Lamberti, S.

Publisher: Haworth Press, New York 2002

Making diagnosis meaningful: Enhancing evaluation and treatment of psychological (1998)

Chapter: Assessment in Transitional Family Therapy: The importance of context

Authors: Watson, W. and McDaniel, S.

Publisher: American Psychological Association, Washington D.C.: 1998