Since 2009, I have developed my clinical practice in both private and public mental health settings in the Valparaíso region of Chile, holding clinical and leadership positions across a range of services. My professional experience includes work at Hospital de Quillota, the Limache Community Mental Health Center, the Day Hospital of Quilpué Hospital, and the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit at El Salvador Psychiatric Hospital. In parallel, since 2009 I have been involved in several adolescent substance use intervention programs within the SEMDA network.
I am currently a tenured professor at the School of Medicine of the University of Valparaíso and a faculty member of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry training program.
My research has focused on multiple areas of mental health, with particular emphasis on attachment-based interventions for parents and caregivers of children with severe mental health conditions and for mothers experiencing postpartum depression; school-based mental health literacy programs for children and adolescents; and community-based interventions for individuals with psychosis. I have served as principal investigator on two FONIS projects and as a co-investigator on FONDECYT, FONDEF, and other nationally funded research initiatives.

• Olhaberry M, Morán-Kneer J, , Sieverson C, Costa-Cordella S Muzard A, Honorato C, León MJ. Leyton F. Impact of Strength-Based Video-Feedback Intervention on Maternal Sensitivity in Mother-Infant Dyads with Maternal Depressive Symptoms. Infant Ment Health J. 2024 Dec 26. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.22154
• Leyton F, Olhaberry M, Morán J, De la Cerda C, León MJ, Sieverson C, Alfaro Á, Hernández C, Alvarado R, Steele H. Video Intervention Therapy for primary caregivers in a child psychiatry unit: a randomized feasibility trial. Trials. 2021 Oct 30;22(1):754. PMID: 34717750; PMCID: PMC8557018. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-021-05668-w
• Barker MJ, Leyton F, Stojanova J, Briceño M, Dueñas LA, Arancibia M. A cross-sectional study on the characteristics and factors associated with the clinical course of child and adolescent patients hospitalized in a public child and adolescent psychiatric unit in Chile. Medwave 2020;20(2):e7853. http://doi.org/10.5867/medwave.2020.02.7853
• García F, Klagges M, Leyton F, Nogales I, Mickman C, Martínez C, Tomicic A. Mental telehealth in a public child and adolescent psychiatry unit during the pandemic: a qualitative implementation study. Medwave 2024;24(2):e2777. http://doi.org/10.5867/medwave.2024.02.2777
• Vargas C., Aguilera F. Arancibia M., Alvarado Rubén, Leyton F. Estudio prospectivo descriptivo de las trayectorias de respuesta terapéutica en una cohorte de pacientes con trastorno depresivo mayor. Revista chilena de neuro-psiquiatría, 61(3), 298-307. https://dx.doi.org/10.4067/s0717-92272023000300298