Director

Dr. Courtney Beard (she/her) is a clinical psychologist with expertise in anxiety disorders and cognitive behavioral therapy. She is an Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and at McLean Hospital serves as Director of the Cognition and Affect Research and Education (CARE) Laboratory, Co-Director of the Behavioral Health Partial Hospital Clinical Research Program, Co-Director of the McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School Psychology Internship Program, and Advisor and coordinator of the MENTOR (Mentor, Empower, Network to Optimize Representation) program.

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Dr. Beard’s research aims to delineate cognitive and affective mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders and to develop treatments to target these mechanisms. Her work has been continually funded by NIMH since 2008. She devotes much of her time to mentoring and was the 2021 recipient of McLean Hospital's Research Mentoring award.

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In her role at the Behavioral Health Partial Hospital, she oversees clinical assessment, integration of research and clinical care, and has supported over 100 trainees in conducting research on transdiagnostic mechanisms , assessment, treatment outcome, and sociocultural identities in treatment. 

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Dr. Beard is dedicated to making McLean Hospital a more inclusive and diverse place to work and receive care. She has been a member of the Multicultural Psychology Consultation Team, since 2017, which meets weekly to provide consultation to hospital units, research labs, and other groups. MPCT aims to support clinicians conducting culturally-responsive mental health treatment and  encourage innovation and dissemination of culturally-responsive treatments at and beyond McLean Hospital. Within MPCT, Dr. Beard contributes to program evaluation efforts. In 2022, Dr. Beard co-created McLean Hospital's MENTOR program, which seeks to provide career mentorship opportunities through partnering with local universities.