Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Nationally Certified School Psychologist
Dr. Poynter is passionate about working with children and adolescents. She has extensive experience with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, psychological testing and evaluation, presenting parenting workshops, and facilitating various groups for emotional and behavioral regulation, social skills, and managing anxiety and depression. She has specialized training in assessing Autism Spectrum Disorder and various other neurodevelopmental disorders such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Intellectual Disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), as well as internalizing disorders such as anxiety and depression. She is ADOS-2 certified, trained in various crisis response models and proficient in a plethora of intellectual (IQ), achievement, developmental and cognitive processing assessments.
Dr. Poynter has experience working in different roles in the school systems across Mississippi, Texas and Virginia. She is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist who transitioned to private practice as a Clinical Psychologist. This move allows her to work more comprehensively with clients, addressing their concerns in greater depth. Most recently, Dr. Poynter worked in Prince William County Schools to evaluate and provide interventions related to a variety of issues that prevented students from fully engaging in the learning environment. She completed her full-time, year-long APA-accredited internship at the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District (CFISD). Prior to that, Dr. Poynter worked in the Calhoun Country School District conducting student psychological assessments to help determine special education eligibility. At East Webster Elementary School, she implemented evidenced based interventions with students identified in Tier 3 of the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) program.
As part of her training and internship experiences, Dr. Poynter provided Family Interaction Training (FIT) at a FIT Clinic, worked at a School Psychology Assessment Clinic, was a primary clinician at an Autism and Developmental Disabilities Clinic, and served as a primary clinician at a summer behavior and academic clinics, and as a graduate assistant and supervisor for a reading clinic where she implemented academic reading interventions.
Dr. Poynter's research experience includes a systematic review of function-based interventions for students with emotional disturbances, data collection and evaluation of the GREET-STOP-PROMPT intervention in decreasing racial disparities in school discipline, data collection comparing stimulus set size on efficiency of sight words, providing ABA interventions and collecting data in a pediatric feeding disorders lab, and studying individuals diagnosed with rare genetic syndrome known as Charge. She has also been involved in research endeavors to examine the effect of elementary skillstreaming in a group setting, the efficacy of math to mastery using brief experimental analysis procedures, comparing interventions to improve reading fluency via telehealth, working in an emotional laboratory on various projects focusing on assessment and treatment of public speaking anxiety, the relationship of trauma to startle response and emotion bias, among others.
Dr. Poynter has published and presented at several conferences on her research findings. She has been very involved in her community in activities such as providing parenting classes, volunteering for various walks/runs including the Veterans Association and the Out of the Darkness Walk. Committed to professional involvement, Dr. Poynter has been a member of the American Psychological Association, American Psychological Society, the National Association of School Psychologists, as well as state and local organizations.
Dr. Poynter graduated from Mississippi State University with her PhD in Educational Psychology with a concentration in School Psychology. She earned her MS in Psychology with a Research Concentration from Avila University. Her BS from the University of Central Missouri is in Psychology with a minor in Child and Family Development.