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- Patti Watson
Alumni Profile
Patricia (Patti) Watson, Ph.D.
Class of 1985
Patti Watson is currently the Senior Education Specialist at the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In this position, Patti collaborates with other experts in the field of PTSD to create publications for public and mental health interventions following large scale terrorism, disaster, and pandemic flu, such as Best Practices in Disaster Mental Health and Public Health / Mental Health Interface Following Disasters and Terrorism. Through creating these mental health manuals, Patti is able to work with others when they are in crisis or trauma, and make a positive impact on their recovery process. She is also the project coordinator for the interagency agreement with Center for Mental Health Services, emergency disaster branch, SAMHSA; organizing the cooperation between the two organizations as they work with people with PTSD.
After graduating with her Bachelor’s Degree from JMU, Patti earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Catholic University. She was a commissioned active duty officer in the U.S. Navy from 1990-1998. During her time in the military, her duties included serving as the outpatient director at an adult mental health hospital. After a postgraduate fellowship at Harvard Medical School, she served as outpatient director at a child mental health outpatient program. At the conclusion of her active military service, Patti served as Deputy Director of Education and Clinical Networking at the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the agency for which she still works. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School.
When Patti attended JMU for her undergraduate training, she was very involved with the Psychology Department. She arrived at JMU declared as an art major, but with the encouragement of a psychology professor, she decided to change her major to psychology because of her interest in this area, and because she felt it would be a more practical major for her. Patti said that her experiences with the Psychology Department were positive; she had great teachers who cared about the students. Patti described her psychology professors as “encouraging individuals, who made me want to learn.” While she was an undergraduate, Patti volunteered to work in her psychology professor’s clinic where she helped with psychological test administration. She was also an intern at Western State Psychiatric Hospital. She was the President of Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology, during her senior year. She says that her experience as President of the honor society was one of the most valuable undergraduate experiences, because it helped her develop public speaking skills that have been instrumental throughout her career.
Patti encourages students to seek out unique ways to apply their psychological knowledge to jobs. She feels that students need to think about their college experience in terms of the skill sets that they learned. She also encourages students to volunteer in the community. She says that this is a terrific way to develop ideas about possible occupations.
Students are welcome to contact Patti at Patricia.J.Watson@Dartmouth.edu.
