Dr. Dowtin is a Black cisgender woman who believes in the ongoing pursuit of social justice. As a trauma psychologist, Dr. Dowtin works as a licensed clinical psychologist, professional counselor, nationally certified school psychologist, parent-child interaction therapy within agency trainer, and a registered play therapist supervisor who specializes in perinatal, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), early childhood and trauma populations across the age span with a special focus on culturally, racially, and linguistically marginalized people. She is fluent in English, African American Vernacular English, proficient in American Sign Language, and an emerging Spanish learner. Dr. Dowtin is the CEO and a clinician at PlayfulLeigh Psyched.

With over 20 years in early childhood education, Dr. Dowtin was educated at Bowie State University (BSU), Maryland's oldest Historically Black University where the focus of intersections of race, culture, and identity are deeply embedded throughout the curriculum. Following school psychology and counselor training at BSU, Dr. Dowtin continued in clinical psychology at Gallaudet University where she had the opportunity to train at Children’s National’s child development clinic conducting consultation in the NICU and neonatal follow-up assessments, and first learned PCIT, gaining therapist certification. Dr. Dowtin's additional training at Adventist HealthCare’s The Lourie Center for Children's Social & Emotional Wellness afforded her the opportunity to support children and families with trauma backgrounds while working with children and families at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore City, Maryland. She completed a clinical psychology doctoral internship at Tulane University School of Medicine focusing on families and infant mental health for trauma survivors in New Orleans.

Following internship, Dr. Dowtin pursued a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford University in the NICU focusing on perinatal and infant mental health. Since 2019, she has been an active member of the National Perinatal Association in conjunction with the National Network of NICU Psychologists (NNNP). As of 2022, Dr. Dowtin serves as a Co-Chair for NNNP. She is also a published researcher and author with several book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles on topics related to implicit bias, racial and social justice, NICU, perinatal mental health, play therapy, play therapy supervision, and educational justice for young Black children. She is the former Director of the Infants, Toddlers, and Families graduate program at Gallaudet University where she also taught for several years establishing a standard for unpacking race and marginalization in their courses.

Founder of PlayfulLeigh Psyched, which works from a social justice and trauma-based framework providing psychotherapy, training, supervision and consultation, serving infants, families, and survivors of trauma in Delaware, DC, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, Missouri, California since 2018. Given her background, training, and lived experiences as a Black woman, Dr. Dowtin is passionate about eradicating racial injustices for historically marginalized populations, disrupting the generational transmission of trauma, and facilitating healthy social-emotional development from conception adulthood, making her a fierce child advocate and PCIT enthusiast.