Hi.  My name is Marcia McKinley, and I am a therapist/coach working in the Washington DC area.  My interests in psychology date to my college years, when I worked with Dr. Susanne Denham at George Mason University researching preschool children’s social cognition.

During college, I became interested in how children are interviewed in legal contexts. These interests took me to the University of Southern California (USC) Law Center, where I earned my law degree, and the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, where I conducted pretrial hearings for the Hardcore Gang Division and worked as a law clerk for the Jailhouse Informant Litigation Team.  After graduation, I worked as the Staff Attorney for the Federal government’s Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information.

Psychology continued to beckon me, however, and I soon returned to George Mason to earn a PhD in Psychology (with specialties in developmental and cognitive psychology and extensive coursework in statistics). My mentor, Dr. Elyse Lehman, and I conducted basic research on executive functions such as intentional forgetting, and I integrated my interests in law and children’s cognitive development in my dissertation: “Disentangling the Roles of Compliance and Memory in Children’s Eyewitness Suggestibility.”

In 2000, I joined the Psychology Department of Mount St. Mary’s University. At “the Mount,” I taught Foundations of Psychology, several developmental psychology courses, Experimental Cognition, Psychology and Law, Criminal Law, Freshman Seminar, and Research Methods and Statistics. In addition, I co-sponsored the Legal Studies Minor and served as the Director of Pre-Law Studies, for which I coached mock trial teams, taught LSAT prep courses, and advised pre-law students.

At the Mount, I continued researching eyewitness suggestibility and numerous other issues related to children’s and women’s well-being.  By this time, I was homeschooling my own twice-exceptional son, so began to focus my research on homeschooling and gifted children (as well as other topics that affected children’s and women’s well-being).  Much of my research can be found at ResearchGate.  In addition, I wrote the instructors’ manuals and study guides for three best-selling introductory psychology textbooks (by Stephen Kosslyn, then-Chair of the Psychology Department at Harvard University).

I was tenured at the Mount in 2006 and continued there until 2013.  However, I dreamt of doing clinical work and so, in 2011, I began my degree in pastoral counseling at Loyola University of Maryland.  In addition, I started an internship at BiofeedbackWORKS in Virginia, providing neurofeedback and counseling under the supervision of Joan O. Ordmandy, MSEd, LPC. With her 17+ years in neurofeedback, Ms. Ordmandy is truly one of the pioneers in this field.

I became a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in Maryland in 2013 and a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Virginia in 2017.  Since 2013, I have worked as an ADHD and Executive Functioning Coach, parent consultant, and therapist (for individuals, couples, and families) in clinical, home, and private practice settings.  I currently see clients in both Maryland and Virginia.

During my spare time, I enjoy rock-climbing (indoor only!); reading; writing; and traveling, especially to the Southwest.

Copyright©2015-2017.  Marcia J. McKinley.