Leigh Kwasny, PsyD
Coordinator of Encompass Program
Dr. Leigh Kwasny, Coordinator of the Encompass Program, is a staff psychologist at CBC where she works with children, adolescents, adults, and families. Dr. Kwasny has intensive training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Dr. Kwasny has also been trained in Encompass, an evidence-based, integrated treatment model for adolescents and young adults with co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorders.
Dr. Kwasny has experience providing evidence-based treatment to youth and adults in a variety of settings, including community mental health clinics, private boarding schools, and hospital settings. She has a particular interest in working with youth and adults who present with trauma-related disorders, suicidality, substance use disorders, and mood disorders. Dr. Kwasny received her BA in psychology from Marist College and earned both her masters and doctorate in clinical psychology from La Salle University.
Dr. Kwasny completed an externship at the Outpatient Psychiatry Center (OPC) at the University of Pennsylvania, providing CBT and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy to clients with a range of psychopathology and co-occurring health problems. She then completed an externship at Westtown School, where she provided evidence-based treatment, crisis interventions, and psychoeducational testing to youth presenting with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and executive functioning deficits. Dr. Kwasny completed her a third externship at Penn Medicine Princeton House at the Teen Girls program, where she provided DBT to youth and their families.
Dr. Kwasny also participated as a student clinician on specialty treatment teams through La Salle University’s community mental health outpatient clinic, including the CBT Depression/Post-partum team and the Evaluation and Assessment team, providing CBT and psychodiagnostic assessments to adults with
a wide range of psychopathology and learning difficulties.
Dr. Kwasny completed her pre-doctoral internship at Penn Medicine Princeton House, a partial hospitalization setting, providing therapeutic services and diagnostic evaluations. She worked in the Women’s program, providing DBT and trauma-informed care to adult women and also worked extensively in the Men’s Trauma track, where she provided individual and group-based treatment.
Dr. Kwasny’s research interests include examining the effects of social media usage on adolescents’ sense of self. More broadly, Dr. Kwasny views clinical research as an integral tool to guide and inform her therapeutic approach. She is an active member of multiple professional organizations, including the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT).