Courtney Beard Ph.D.

Dr. Courtney Beard is a licensed clinical psychologist with expertise in cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders. Dr. Beard received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Georgia and completed a pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. In 2012, she joined McLean Hospital as a clinical researcher. At McLean, she is Director of the Cognition and Affect Research and Education (CARE) lab, Co-Director of research at the Behavioral Health Partial Hospital, and Co-Director of the Clinical Psychology Internship Program. She is an Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Beard’s program of research involves three primary aims: (1) delineate cognitive and affective mechanisms underlying psychopathology, such as cognitive biases, (2) translate these findings into novel treatments, and (3) implement these treatments in real-world settings. Dr. Beard has developed and tested Cognitive Bias Modification for Interpretation (CBM-I) treatments for anxiety in lab settings, primary care clinics, and psychiatric hospitals. At the Behavioral Health Partial Hospital at McLean Hospital, Dr. Beard’s research has focused on predicting important clinical outcomes in this setting (e.g., treatment response, rehospitalization, and suicidality) and identifying the mechanisms and interventions contributing to treatment response (e.g., behavioral activation).

Dr. Beard has published over 90 papers in peer-reviewed journals, two book chapters, and has received continuous funding from the National Institute of Mental Health since 2008. Dr. Beard devotes much of her time to mentoring aspiring psychologists. She founded and chairs the Patient Advisory Board for the Behavioral Health Partial Hospital Program, which provides guidance about research projects. Dr. Beard has a special interest in being an ally to marginalized groups. She was the inaugural chair of McLean Hospital’s LGBTQ+ and Allies Employee Resource Group and is a member of the McLean Hospital Multicultural Psychology Consultation Group.

Dr. Beard lives in Acton, Massachusetts with her husband, two children, and two cats.