Nicholas Polizzi, Ph.D.

Nicholas C. Polizzi, Ph.D., is a psychologist with specialty training in child and adolescent assessment and treatment. Dr. Polizzi has extensive training in the field of school and counseling psychology with specific interest in helping children and adults cope with stressful situations including: divorce, domestic tension, peer and sibling problems, work problems, low self-esteem, and school-related anxiety.

Dr. Polizzi has worked with children his entire career. After earning a B.A. from Washington and Lee University, he earned a Master of Education degree from Marymount University and became certified to teach children in grades nursery/kindergarten through eighth grade. Dr. Polizzi was an elementary school teacher for four years and a middle school teacher for one year in the Fairfax County Public School system.

Dr. Polizzi’s interest in children and adolescents lead him to pursue doctoral training in psychology at the University of Georgia (UGA) where he studied under Randy W. Kamphaus, Ph.D. and Roy P. Martin, Ph.D. At UGA, Dr. Polizzi received extensive training in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of a wide variety of childhood problems, including ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, depression, suicidal ideation, and anxiety disorders.  He earned his Ph.D. in August 2008 with a major specialization in educational psychology (school psychology) and a minor specialization in counseling psychology.

Dr. Polizzi’s research interests include analyzing the relationship between learning and behavior problems in children, perinatal anomalies, and prenatal perturbations. In addition, Dr. Polizzi studied the season-of-birth phenomenon; children with certain learning and behavioral difficulties are disproportionately born at certain times of the year. Clinically, he spent four years as a supervisor of undergraduate and graduate level student-teachers. It was in this capacity that he became interested in studying best practices for middle grade teachers (i.e., successful teaching techniques and successful classroom/individual behavior management). Dr. Polizzi uses his cognitive-behavioral orientation to inform his consultations with student-teachers and teachers in the areas of best teaching practices.  

Publications:

Muth, K. D., Polizzi, N. C., & Glynn, S. M. (2007).  Using real middle school dilemmas for case-based professional development. Middle School Journal, 38, (3), 4-9.  (Reprinted in 2008 Middle Level Education Research Annual, M.Caskey, Ed.).

Muth, K. D., Polizzi, N. C., & Glynn, S. M. (2007).  Teaching controversial topics in middle school: case-based teacher preparation. Middle School Journal, 38, (5), 14-19.

Polizzi, N.C. (2007). Seasonal Patterns of Perinatal Anomalies. Dissertation.

Polizzi, N., Martin, R.P., & Dombrowski, S.C. (2007). Season of birth of students receiving special education services under a diagnosis of emotional and behavioral disorders. School Psychology Quarterly, 22 (1), 44-57.

 Psychological Assessment Research Team. (2006). Three Practice Parameters for Interpreting Intelligence Test Part Scores. Journal of Neuropsychology, Neuropsychiatry, and Neurosciences [Revista de Neuropsicologia, Neuropsiquiatria y Neurociencias].