Dr. Elizabeth Watters (they/them), white, pansexual, non-binary, AuDHD, able-bodied individual. They are located in North Carolina, where they are the co-founder and clinic direct of a local non-profit, The Well: Mental and Spiritual Care. Their clinical focus is on providing gender-affirming services to transgender and gender-expansive (TGE) individuals, working with the kink community, complex PTSD, and exploring the intersection of spirituality and mental health.
Their research focuses on the long term influence of childhood maltreatment and trauma on biopsychosocial-spiritual outcomes across key developmental periods (i.e., adolescence, emerging adulthood, and later adulthood). They are particularly interested in resiliency factors that help mitigate the impact of trauma, especially for historically and present day marginalized communities.
- Childhood trauma
- Resilience factors
- Biopsychosocial outcomes
- Quantitative Methodologies
PhD, University of Iowa
- Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (Iowa #093116)
- American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Member (#187873)
- National Council on Family Relations Member (#1191463)
- EMDR trained therapist
- PSY60210 Advanced Statistics I (Alliant)
- PSY 60220 Advanced Statistics II (Alliant)
- PSY 73020 MFT Research Methods (Alliant)
- PSY 73120 Sex Therapy in Marriage and Family Therapy (Alliant)
- PSY 63600 Preparing for Community Practice (Alliant)"
- Dansby Olufowote, R.A., *Murphy, M., Watters, E.R., & *Anson, B. (2025). Demonstrations of Resilience by Christian Couples Parenting Autistic Children: A Pilot Integration of the Double ABCX Model and a Model of Couple Resilience. Contemporary Family Therapy: An International Journal.
- Watters, E. R., & Seshadri, G. (2024). A critique of trait resilience: How to approach resilience through contextual and systemic frameworks. In C. Eppler & R. Martin (Eds) Cultivating Systemic Resilience in Therapy: Applications and Interventions for Families, Relationships, and Individuals. Routledge.
- *Allen, M., *Armenta, B., Watters, E. R., Aflatooni, L., *Sorenson, L. (2024). Experiences of Acculturation Stress in First-Generation Immigrant Children: Examining the Relationship Among Acculturation Stress, Depression, and Family Dynamics. Journal of International Migration and Integration. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-024-01210-4
- Reed-Fitzke, K., Wojciak, A. S., Ferraro, A. J., Watters, E. R., & Wilkins-Clark, R. (2024). The moderating role of resilience for at-risk U.S. Army soldiers-in-training: An expansion of a person-centered approach to adverse childhood experiences. Traumatology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/trm0000499
- Watters, E. R., Reed-Fitzke, K., & Wojciak. A. S. (2024). Attachment, regulation, and competency in emerging adults: Validating a model of resilience in a population with adverse childhood experiences. Children and Youth Services Review, 159, 107530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107530
- Watters, E. R., Aloe, A., & Wojciak. A. S. (2023). Examining the associations between childhood trauma, resilience, and depression: A multivariate meta-analysis. Journal of Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 24(1), 231-244. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380211029397