Garden City Neuropsychology
Board-certified neuropsychologist in Garden City, NY.
Concierge neuropsychological services provided by Dr. Philip Watson
Dr. Philip Watson
NYS Licensed Psychologist #021244
About the Doctor
Dr. Watson is board-certified in clinical neuropsychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. He is the founder and owner of Garden City Neuropsychology. He also concurrently serves as the Director of Neuropsychology for Behavioral Health Services, the Director of The Center for Neuropsychological Services at Northwell Health, and Assistant Professor at the Zucker School of Medicine. In his role at Northwell, Dr. Watson manages a team of clinical neuropsychologists across four locations and oversees the assessment of neurocognitive functions in the Psychiatry Research division. He also trains neuropsychology doctoral students at the extern, intern, and fellow levels.
A non-traditional path to Neuropsychology
Dr. Watson found his way to psychology and the neurosciences through a keen interest in how the brain functions. He had a non-linear path to his profession, working throughout high school and afterward in the construction industry. He continued working in construction when he decided to return to his formal education at age 22, working full time during the day and attending school in the evenings to obtain his bachelor’s degree.
Dr. Watson found his niche when he began working in a research lab studying the progression of cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease, and from there his academic and professional career expanded to where it is today. He feels his less traditional path has given him a helpful perspective, allowing him to meet clients wherever they are without expectations or assumptions. He prides himself on providing high-level patient-focused care, taking a helpful, collaborative, and informative approach in helping people and their families understand their behavior and improve their lives.
“My goal is to help people better understand themselves, connecting them with the services, supports, and accommodations that help them live full, meaningful lives.”
About Garden City Neuropsychology
Concierge-style Care
Garden City Neuropsychology is designed to be a long-term resource for you and your family.
In our concierge model, you’ll speak directly with Dr. Watson, who prepares in advance, takes time to understand the full picture, and provides clear recommendations you can act on. Families often return for guidance at new stages—school changes, transitions, or fresh questions years later.
Why work with a board-certified neuropsychologist?
Proper training is crucial to high-quality neuropsychological services, so finding a qualified neuropsychologist is imperative to receiving the highest quality assessments and intervention therapies possible. At Garden City Neuropsychology, you have access to a practitioner with exceptional credentials and experience.
Dr. Philip Watson is not only a licensed psychologist in New York State who has been in practice since 2016, but he has also been instrumental in building the Neuropsychology program at Northwell Health, where he now serves as Director of Neuropsychology for Behavioral Health services.
In addition to these professional achievements, he has also completed board certification in Clinical Neuropsychology through the American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology (ABCN), a specialty board of the American Board of Professional Psychology.
Less than 3% of psychologists in the US have attained board certification. It is a rigorous peer review process that examines credentials and casework, and requires exhaustive written and oral examination. Board certification acknowledges, via professional peers in the field, comprehensive competency in the clinical neuropsychology specialty.
“I brought my 17-year-old son to meet with Dr. Watson. The appointment was on time and well prepared. He was kind and patient, took notes during the meeting, and asked thoughtful questions to really understand what was going on. He promptly recommended a treatment plan, and my son was very happy with him.”
Dr. Philip Watson
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Founder and Owner, Garden City Neuropsychology
Director of Neuropsychology, Behavioral Health Services, Northwell Health
Director, The Center for Neuropsychological Services
Assistant Professor, The Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra-Northwell
Supervising Neuropsychologist, The Early Treatment Program, Zucker Hillside Hospital
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Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Neuropsychology
Zucker Hillside HospitalClinical Internship
North Shore–Long Island Jewish Health System, Neuropsychology TrackClinical Practicum Experience
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• New York University Medical Center
• Zucker Hillside Hospital, Northwell Health
• Transitions of Long Island, Northwell Health
• North Shore–Long Island Jewish Health System (now Northwell Health) -
Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology with Emphasis in Neuropsychology (2014)
The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY)
Dissertation: Examining Cognitive and Emotional Processing Deficits in Systemic Lupus ErythematosusMaster of Philosophy in Psychology (September 2011)
The Graduate Center, CUNYMaster of Arts in Psychology (February 2011)
Queens College, CUNY
Master’s Thesis: Visual Search for Meaningful Line Drawings: The Effects of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Attentional Mechanisms and Efficiency of SearchBachelor of Arts in Psychology (summa cum laude) (June 2007)
Queens College, CUNY -
American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology
American Psychological Association
International Neuropsychological Society
New York Neuropsychological Group
New York State Association of Neuropsychology
Society for Black Neuropsychology
Society for Clinical Neuropsychology (APA Division 40)
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Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Mapping cerebellar connectivity to cognition in psychosis: Convergent evidence from fMRI and TMS. Biological Psychiatry.
Cao, H., Argyelan, M., Yan, J., Velioglu, H.A., Fang, F., Joanlanne, A., Kang, S., Prizgint, L., Schugart, J., Brown, K., Cholewa, J., Watson, P., Tang, S., Carrion, P., Rubio, J., Foroughi, M., Lencz, T., Malhotra, A. (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2025.06.023
ECT-induced cognitive side effects are associated with hippocampal enlargement. Translational Psychiatry.
Argyelan, M., Lencz, T., Kang, S., Ali, S., Masi, P., Moyett, E., Joanlanne, A., Watson, P., Sanghani, S., Petrides, G., Malhotra, A. (2021). 11 (1): 516. DOI: 1038/s41398-021-01641-y.Assessing cognitive impairment in SLE; examining relationships between resting glucose metabolism and anti-NMDAR antibodies with navigational performance. Lupus Science & Medicine.
Ploran, E., Tang, C.C., Mackay, M., Small, M., Anderson, E., Storbeck, J., Bascetta, B., Kang, S., Aranow, C., Sartori, C., Watson, P., Volpe, B.T., Diamond, B., Eidelberg, D. (2019). 11; 6 (1), doi: 10.1136/lupus-2019-000327.Metabolic and microstructural alterations in the SLE brain correlate with cognitive impairment. Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Mackay, M., Vo, A., Tang, C.C., Small, M., Anderson, E., Ploran, E., Storbeck, J., Bascetta, B., Kang, S., Aranow, C., Sartori, C., Watson, P., Volpe, B.T., Diamond, B., Eidelberg, D. (2019). 10; 4 (1), doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.124002.A meta-analysis of factors associated with quality of life in first episode psychosis, Schizophrenia Research.
Watson, P., Zhang, J., Rizvi, A., Tamaiev, J., Birnbaum, M., and Kane, J. (2018), http://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2018.07.013Selective Impairment of Spatial Cognition Caused by Autoantibodies to the N-methyl-D-aspartate Receptor, EBioMedicine.
Chang, E.H., Volpe, B.T., Mackay, M., Aranow, C., Watson, P., Kowal, C., Storbeck, J., Mattis, P., Berlin, R., Chen, H., Mader, S., Huerta, T.S., Huerta, P.T., and Diamond, B. (2015). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2015.05.027.
Verbal Makes it Positive, Spatial Makes it Negative: Working Memory Influences Judgments of and Attention to Affective Factors. Emotion.
Storbeck, J. and Watson, P. (2014). 14(6), 1072-1086.Cognitive and Emotional Abnormalities in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Evidence for Amygdala Dysfunction. Neuropsychology Review.
Watson, P., Storbeck, J., Mattis, P., & Mackay, M. (2012) 22(3), 252-270.
Presentations at International Conferences
Blair Thies, M., DeRosse, P., Vadhan, N., Gallego, J., Marzouk, T., Muscat, W., Kang, S., Watson, P., Malhotra, A. (2022). Relationship of Nicotine and Cannabis to Neuropsychological Predictors of Treatment Response in First-Episode Psychosis. 50th Annual meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society. New Orleans, LA.
Kang, S., Pehme, P., Carney, C., Watson, P. (2022). Learning Characteristics in People with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. 50th Annual meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society. New Orleans, LA.
Kang, S., Lee, C. J., Ting, L., Watson, P. (2022). Differences between in-person and telehealth symptom and neuropsychological presentation in first episode psychosis. 50th Annual meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society. New Orleans, LA.
Kang, S., Watson, P., Van Meter, A., Rubio-Lorente, J., Braga, R., Hanna, L., Burdick, L., Malhotra, A. (2019). Effect of antipsychotic dose on cognition in bipolar disorder. Annual meeting of the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology.
Kang, S., Marzouk, T., Watson, P., Zhang, J., Malhotra, A. (2019). Relationship between clozapine and clozapine metabolite levels and cognitive function in treatment-resistant schizophrenia: a pilot study. Annual meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society.
Ali, S., Petrides, G., Zhang, J., Marzouk, T., Watson, P., Kang, S., Braga, R., Argyelan, M., Malhotra, A. Improving outcomes for treatment-resistant schizophrenia: The efficacy of ECT in clozapine-refractory patients. Winter Conference on Brain Research.
Kang, S., Rosenbach, N., Watson, P., Bascetta, B., Storbeck, J. (2016) Attentional Engagement Underlies Rey Complex Figure Test Performance in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. 44th annual meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society.
Watson, P., Mattis, P., Storbeck, J, Mackay, M., Aranow, C., Espinosa, M., & Diamond, B. (2013). Deficits in Spatial Memory in People with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is Dependent on anti-NMDA Receptor Antibody Presence and Processing Speed. 11th annual meeting of the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology.
Paul, D., Watson, P., & Storbeck, J. (2012). Differential Processing of Emotional Expressions and Images in a Visual Search Task. 42nd annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
Watson, P., Allen, P.J., Eidelberg, D., Feigin, A., & Mattis, P. (2012). Early Deficits in Executive Functioning Identify Presympomatic Huntington’s Disease. 40th annual meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society.
Watson, P., Lacoste, A., & Foldi, N.S. (2011). Visual Search for Meaningful Line Drawings: The Effects of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Attentional Mechanisms and Efficiency of Search. 39th annual meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society.
Lacoste, A., Huynh, N., Watson, P., & Foldi, N.S. (2011). Investigating Top Down and Bottom-Up Attentional Mechanisms. Queens College Regional Sigma XI Conference Annual Meeting.
Lacoste, A., Watson, P., & Foldi, N.S. (2009). Assessing Top-Down and Bottom-Up Attentional Mechanisms in Alzheimer’s disease. Queens College Undergraduate Research Day Conference Annual Meeting.
Watson, P. and Foldi, N. S. (2006). Top-Down Guidance in Selective Attention in Alzheimer's Disease. Queens College Undergraduate Research Day Conference Annual Meeting.
Oral Presentations
Watson, P. (2009). Assessing Top-Down Attention Mechanisms in Alzheimer’s Disease. Queens College Neuropsychology Research Day
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Doctoral Student Research Grant (2012)
The Graduate School and University Center, CUNYUniversity Teaching Fellowship (2008 – 2013)
City University of New YorkDaniel Caputo Award (May 2007)
Awarded to a Queens College undergraduate in pursuit of doctoral education in clinical psychologyHoward Hughes Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (2006)
Queens College
What does Garden City mean to Dr. Watson?
Dr. Watson is a resident of Garden City, NY, who has proudly raised his family here. He is an active part of the community, and his sons have thrived in the Garden City school system, and are important members of the two-time state champion soccer team.
Dr. Watson wanted to bring his expertise to his community, to help those in need of neuropsychological services who are struggling to access care, coordinate care teams, and face long lead times for assessments and treatments. For children who need accommodation and support, for teens struggling with new diagnoses, and for adults who are noticing changes and wondering what the next steps are, Dr. Watson can help.
He understands what it’s like to have a non-traditional start, to take a different path, and to use a strong work ethic to follow personal interests into a professional career that allows him to help people. With this private practice right in the heart of Garden City, he is ready to help the surrounding community to access the expert support they deserve.
Ready to get started?
If you or a loved one are in need of a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment or intervention therapies to better understand and support your brain function, click the button below to schedule an intake appointment with board-certified neuropsychologist, Dr. Philip Watson.
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