Since obtaining her doctorate in 2009, Dr. Estis has enjoyed an extensive career focusing primarily upon the delivery of psychological services to individuals with severe and persistent mental illness. Dr. Estis has worked with children, adolescents, and adults in a wide variety of settings. However, her true passion has always been psychological assessment. Dr. Estis shares with Giunta & Associates a commitment to provide high quality, thorough, and ethical evaluations that are based in sound psychological practice. She is happy to consult with attorneys and patients prior to examination to answer any questions they may have about procedure and/or address any concerns. At Giunta & Associates, Dr. Estis offers forensic and personality assessments.
Training: Dr. Estis attended the University of Kentucky where her training focused on psychological assessment, children and adolescents, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Disruptive Behavior Disorders, and Interpersonal Process Therapy. Her clinical training encompassed a wide range of settings, including a county school system, a student counseling program, an outpatient clinic, a state psychiatric hospital, and a university hospital.
Experience: Highlights include 15 years working for the Maryland Department of Health at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center and Spring Grove Hospital Center. Dr. Estis’ time at Perkins and Spring Grove Hospitals allowed her to obtain significant experience conducting various types of assessments, including intelligence assessment, psycho-educational assessment, personality assessment, and forensic assessment (including competency and criminal responsibility evaluations, violence risk assessments, and psychosexual risk evaluations). Dr. Estis has interviewed and evaluated over a thousand patients with severe and persistent mental illness, as well as individuals motivated to feign psychiatric illness to avoid prosecution for criminal behavior. She also had extensive involvement in Spring Grove’s Restoration to Competency program, including authoring three editions of a Restoration to Competency manual the hospital uses.After leaving Spring Grove, Dr. Estis worked briefly for the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducting Fitness-for-Duty evaluations. Additional professional services have included conducting juvenile competency to proceed and dangerousness evaluations for the State of Maryland, conducting court-ordered evaluations for the Office of Court-Ordered Evaluations and Placements, conducting disability evaluations for Maryland Disability Determination Services, conducting parenting capacity evaluation for the Circuit Court of Baltimore City and conducting competency and criminal responsibility evaluations for an agency that contracts with the Developmental Disabilities Administration.
Contact Dr. Estis
301-565-0093
drestis@giunta-associates.com
Academic Credentials
- Licensed Psychologist in Maryland & Arkansas
- Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, University of Kentucky
- Predoctoral Internship, Spring Grove Hospital Center, Catonsville, MD
- B.A., Psychology & Classics, Washington University in St. Louis
- Listed in National Register of Health Service Psychologists
- Member, Certificate of Professional Qualification