Dr. Donnie W. Watson has over 25 years of management experience in directing programs that educate and treat both adolescent and adult substance abusers, and their families. He has expertise in evidence-based prevention and treatment interventions, respectively. He has over fifty (50) publications, articles and book chapters related to a variety of substance abuse issues. He has worked in academic, clinical, research and community settings over the course of his career while providing supervision and training to an array of health care providers who specialize in substance abuse treatment. He is also a certified medication-assisted treatment counselor.

Prior to coming to The Thelma McMillen Recovery Center, he served as a Senior Principal Investigator at UCLA's Integrated Substance Abuse Programs (ISAP). In this capacity, he directed an adult outpatient substance abuse treatment center, and managed several community-based grant-funded substance interventions for youth and their families. He previously directed the CORK Institute on Alcohol and Drug Abuse at Morehouse School of Medicine, where he was also an Associate Professor of Psychiatry. He completed an APA approved clinical psychology internship (with specialty in child and adolescent psychiatry) at Grady Memorial Hospital/Emory University School of Medicine. Upon completion of his internship, he served as Director of Child and Adolescent Research, Psychology Division at Emory University School of Medicine. He earned his B.A. from Saint Olaf College in Northfield Minnesota, and his doctorate from Vanderbilt University in Clinical Psychology with minor emphases in Alcohol Studies and Experimental Design.

He is a Certified Compassion Fatigue Educator with an emphasis on helping the caregiver maximize their potential in the workplace as well as being certified in the implementation of "Seeking Safety Treatment Modality for PTSD and Substance Abuse". Dr. Watson is a Certified Addictions Treatment Counselor (CATC) V, a member of the California Association for Alcohol and Drug Educators (CAADE) and a member of The Addiction Counselor Certification Board of California (ACCBC).