J. Christopher McGinnis, Ph.D.

Florida Licensed Psychologist PY6149
Maryland Licensed Psychologist 04483
Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D)
Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP)
Health Service Provider in Psychology (HSPP)

Trained under the scientist-practitioner model, Dr. McGinnis is a behavioral psychologist committed to the provision of effective, efficient, evidence-based treatment with a supportive and empathetic touch.

A frequent presenter around the community, Dr. McGinnis has co-authored a dozen peer-reviewed articles in professional psychological and medical journals including the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. Besides serving as an ad hoc manuscript reviewer for several professional scientific journals, his editorial activities have included assisting with the National Autism Center’s much acclaimed National Standards Project (2009) as well as the National Association of School Psychologists’ fourth edition of Best Practices in School Psychology (2002) and second edition of Interventions for Academic and Behavior Problems: Preventive and Remedial Approaches (2002).  

He is an associate member of the Medical Staff of the Lee Memorial Health System and has served as an adjunct faculty member within the College of Education at Florida Gulf Coast University where he has taught graduate level courses. In 2004, he was appointed to the Executive Committee of the School Health Advisory Committee which reports to the Superintendent of the School District of Lee County in an advisory fashion on timely medical and mental health issues. He has also served for a number of years as chairman of the Professional Advisory Board of the Lee County chapter of CHADD (Children & Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Following his tenure on the board of directors of the national nonprofit Camelot Community Care, Dr. McGinnis served as the inaugural chairman of the board of directors of the regional nonprofit Children’s Network of Southwest Florida, the Lead Agency for Florida DCF’s District 8, helping children throughout Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Hendry, and Glades counties suffering from abuse, neglect, and abandonment. He has worked with both the Infants and Toddlers Early Intervention Program as well as with the institutionalized adult mentally handicapped population in previous years. He currently is a member of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Association for Behavior Analysis International, Association of Professional Behavior Analysts, Florida Association for Behavior Analysis, National Association of School Psychologists, Maryland Psychological Association, and the Lee Physician Hospital Organization.

His education took him from Delaware to Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, and finally Florida. He began college at the University of Delaware, earned his B.A. degree in Psychology from Salisbury University in Maryland, and received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in School Psychology from The University of Southern Mississippi. He spent his internship year in Nebraska at Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home, perhaps better known as Boys Town, a training rotation within the Nebraska Internship Consortium in Professional Psychology. His psychological residency was with the Family Psychology Clinic in Fort Myers. Upon his move to Florida, he worked for two years as a school psychologist for the School District of Lee County before earning his licensure. He opened the McGinnis Psychology Group in January of 2004 after five years at the Family Psychology Clinic.

Dr. McGinnis’ primary professional interests include solving common problem behaviors in childhood, the effective education of children with special needs, radical acceptance approaches to the treatment of anxiety and depresson, and the study of moral philosophy and its application in everyday life.