Brian Buzzella earned his B.A. in Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. During that time he developed strong interests in the fields of internalizing disorders and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) mental health. As a graduate student in the clinical psychology doctoral program at Boston University, he explored the ways family involvement can improve the efficacy of interventions for individual mental illness as well as how family-focused interventions can prevent individual experiences with mental illness.

For his doctoral dissertation, Brian developed and then evaluated the utility and acceptability of a relationship enhancement program for married male same-sex couples in Massachusetts, designed to prevent relationship distress and associated negative sequelae. Brian recently completed his pre-doctoral internship and postdoctoral residency at the VA San Diego/University of California, San Diego where he is now a clinical faculty member and Director of the VA San Diego’s Family Mental Health Program.

Brian is currently Co-Investigator on research evaluating the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Conjoint Therapy for PTSD, delivered in-home via telehealth versus in-clinic. In addition, Brian serves as Co-Investigator on a project developing and evaluating a couple-based intervention for male couples in which one partner has an eating disorder.

Contact: babuzzella@ucsd.edu