Liliana L Acosta, Ph.D.

Liliana Acosta, PhD, is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Division of Psychology- Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Acosta is a trained child and adolescent clinical psychologist with experience in a variety of multidisciplinary settings. Dr. Acosta graduated from University of Florida School Psychology PhD Program in 2023 after completing her pre-doctoral internship in Health Service Psychology at the Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. She continued specialization through a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, focusing on Autism and Advocacy.

Dr. Acosta began as faculty at the University of Florida in 2025, where she serves as the Director of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) Services at UF Health Springhill. Dr. Acosta holds a certification as a Within Agency Trainer (WAT) in PCIT, an evidence-based behavioral parent training program for families of children ages 2-7 with externalizing concerns. As a WAT in PCIT, Dr. Acosta trains graduate students, interns, and postdoctoral fellows to deliver and train others in delivering PCIT with fidelity. She is pursuing training to become a Regional Trainer to continue disseminating PCIT to agencies and therapists across the state of Florida.

Dr. Acosta serves as a Psychology Attending for trainees providing assessments and cognitive behavioral therapies with individuals across the lifespan for a variety of psychological diagnoses and provides clinical supervision for postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and interns. Dr. Acosta has specialized training in evidence-based interventions in early childhood and complex differential diagnoses of neurodevelopmental disorders in children and adolescents. Dr. Acosta’s research and clinical interests are related to reducing barriers to accurate and timely diagnoses and supports, increasing access to community-based services, and serving Spanish-speaking populations. Dr. Acosta is passionate about increasing services and advocacy efforts for underserved populations and training future generations of psychologists and mental health providers.