Karena Leo, Ph.D.

KL Headshot
Assistant Professor
Clinical Health Psychology
karena.leo@ucdenver.edu
(303) 315-0258

Mailing Address:
Department of Psychology 
Campus Box 173, PO Box 173364 
Denver, CO 80217-3364

Physical Location:
North Classroom Building
1200 Larimer Street
Room 5002G (5th floor)

Office Hours:
By appointment (current students, check course syllabus for office hours)

Expertise Areas:
Couples’ communication, observational coding methods, psychosocial intervention for couples coping with chronic and life-threatening illnesses, couple-based interventions

  • Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, University of Utah

Dr. Leo focuses on couples’ communication within the context of serious illness with the goal of developing and disseminating scalable interventions to improve communication, relationship functioning, and psychological and physical health outcomes. Her research centers on 1) developing and improving methods to identify and quantify communication processes in couples, 2) examining the association between couples’ communication and relationship, psychological, and health processes, and 3) developing scalable couple-based interventions.

Leo, K., Porter, L.S., Lisenbee, J., & Ramos, K. (2025). Empower: A pilot study of a patient-caregiver supportive intervention for patients with glioblastoma. Palliative & Supportive Care, 23, e136. doi:10.1017/S1478951525100436

Leo, K., Langer, S., McDaniel, H., Baucom, B.R.W., Keefe, F., Ramos, K., Lee, D.J., & Porter, L.S. (2025). Parenting concerns, psychological distress, and relationship adjustment among patients with cancer and their partners: A longitudinal study. Psycho-Oncology, 34(1), e70057. doi:10.1002/pon.70057

Leo, K., Langer, S., Porter, L.S., Ramos, K., Romano, J., Baucom, D.H., & Baucom, B.R.W. (2024). Couples communication and cancer: Sequences and trajectories of behavioral affective processes in relation to intimacy. Journal of Family Psychology, 38(2), 246-259. doi:10.1037/fam0001178

Leo, K., Crenshaw, A.O., Hogan, J.N., Bourne, S.V., Baucom, K.J.W., & Baucom, B.R.W. (2021). A replication and extension of the interpersonal process model of demand/withdraw behavior: Incorporating subjective emotional experience. Journal of Family Psychology, 35(4), 534-545. doi:10.1037/fam0000802

  • PSYC 7500: Advanced Psychopathology