Maria Zimmitti, Ph.D. | Julie A. Kovac, Ph.D. | Jay Lucker. EdD., CCC-A/SLP
Dr. Joy Nagorniak | Dr. Dara E. Thorner Psy.D | Dr. Lisa Sanchez Ph.D. | Tamela Sterling, M.S., CCC-SLP

Maria Zimmitti, Ph.D.

Dr. Zimmitti is the President and Clinical Director of Maria Zimmitti, Ph.D. & Associates. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology ( Los Angeles ), where her research focused on eating disorders in adolescent girls. She completed her predoctoral internship at Georgetown University Medical Center , Center for Child Development which specialized in neuropsychological testing for ADHD and learning disabilities, assessment of children with pervasive developmental disorders, developmental testing of premature infants, and assessment and treatment of eating disorders. Her postdoctoral training at The Kingsbury Center included neuropsychological assessment, and individual, group, and family therapy.

Dr. Zimmitti has worked in a number of clinical settings including community mental health centers, medical settings, and early intervention school programs. She has extensive experience in individual and group psychotherapy with adults and children, as well as family and couples therapy. Dr. Zimmitti has particular expertise in early childhood development and provides support and training to parents in a variety of areas, including behavior, sleeping and potty training. She is also active in the medical community and provides evaluation and treatment to patients undergoing gastric bypass surgery. Dr. Zimmitti currently holds privileges at George Washington University Medical Center . In her private practice, she provides supervision and training to diagnosticians and therapists working toward licensure. She frequently serves as an expert witness in special education hearings and assists parents with school advocacy.

Dr. Zimmitti is a licensed psychologist in DC and Maryland and a member of the American Psychological Association and the American Society for Bariatric Surgery. She previously served on the Board of Directors for the District of Columbia Psychological Association. Dr. Zimmitti is the mother of two daughters, aged 2 and 9.


Julie A. Kovac, Ph.D.
Julie A. Kovac, Ph.D. has been a practicing clinical psychologist for the past seven years. She earned her Bachelors Degree with honors from Tufts University (1991) and her Masters and Doctoral Degrees from The George Washington University (1997).

During her graduate school training, Dr. Kovac concentrated her coursework and training on the treatment of children and adolescents, working in a variety of settings. She completed her internship training at the Alexandria Community Mental Health Center , working with children, families, and adults in assessment and therapy.

After graduation, Dr. Kovac worked at the Alexandria Community Mental Health Center from 1998-2000. She co-founded a consulting company, Childhood Development Services, LLC, in 2001, which provided workshops and psychological services to preschools in Virginia . Since 2002, she has worked with Dr. Zimmitti doing psychological evaluations. Dr. Kovac concentrates on the assessment of Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. She also devotes a portion of her time to admissions evaluations for independent schools in Washington D.C. , Maryland , and Virginia .

Dr. Kovac is currently a member of the American Psychological Association and the Washington Psychologists for the Study of Psychoanalysis. She holds licenses to practice clinical psychology in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of Columbia.


Jay Lucker, EdD., CCC-A/SLP
Dr. Lucker is a certified/licensed audiologist and speech-language pathologist specializing in auditory information processing disorders (APD). Dr. Lucker is also an associate professor in the Dept. of Communication Sciences & Disorders at Howard University, Washington, DC.

Dr. Lucker has developed a unique approach to assessment and working with people who have APD that looks at the whole person and not merely the auditory system. APD is defined by him as those things that we do when we receive information through our auditory system and eventually obtain meaning from that information. His model of APD looks at eight distinct categories of the disorder and his assessment identifies the specific categories of APD not functioning normally in children, adolescents, and adults. He then provides concrete recommendations for educational and therapeutic treatment for the specific APD present. His focus is on both the processing of auditory information (i.e., information received by the ear) as well as language processing (i.e., the ability to comprehend verbal and linguistic information).

Dr. Lucker has provided hundreds of presentations on APD as well as published numerous articles and book chapters on the topic. He is involved in on-going research to help obtain a better understanding of what are APDs as well as how we assess and treat specific APDs. He is president, co-founder, and chair of the board of the National Coalition on Auditory Processing Disorders (NCAPD, www.ncapd.org). He provides full diagnostic assessments for children, adolescents and adults for APD and language processing problems. For further information about Dr. Lucker and APD see www.ncapd.org and www.dr-j.net.


Dara E. Thorner, Psy.D
Dr. Thorner graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles and earned her Doctorate of Psychology from The George Washington University. She presently works under the supervision of Dr. Zimmitti and is working toward licensure in the District of Columbia. During her graduate work, she was trained in psychodynamic psychotherapy, as well as behavior and play therapies. Dr. Thorner treated adult patients at George Washington's Center Clinic, and provided services to preschool children. She was a recipient of the Academic Fellowship Award.

During her internship year at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, Dr. Thorner worked in a variety of settings with a wide-ranging patient population. She evaluated and counseled individuals seeking bariatric surgery, acted as primary therapist for clients on an inpatient unit, offered therapy for cancer patients and their families, and provided individual long and short-term psychotherapy for a diverse population of children, adolescents, and adults. There, she expanded upon her testing experience from The George Washington University and conducted both psychological and educational assessments.

She has conducted research at both the National Institutes of Mental Health and the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Thorner is a member of the American Psychological Association.


Dr. Joy Nagorniak
Dr. Nagorniak earned her undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1997 and her doctorate in psychology from The George Washington University in 2002. She completed her internship training at Norwich University, where she continued her training in psychological assessment and psychotherapy.

Since graduation, Dr. Nagorniak has worked in several clinical settings including schools, outpatient practices, and correctional facilities. She enjoys working with a diverse clientele and finds great satisfaction from helping adults, adolescents, children, as well as their families. She is an experienced evaluator who has conducted psychological assessments for the purposes of school admission, personality assessment, neuropsychological testing, and psychoeducational evaluation. Adept at identifying individual strengths and weaknesses and clarifying psychiatric diagnoses, she places great importance on collaborating closely with clients in order to identify strategies to promote their academic and personal success. As a therapist, Dr. Nagorniak has a special interest in mood disorders. Her approach is a relational psychodynamic one which incorporates an understanding of the systems approach and cognitive behavioral techniques.

Dr. Nagorniak is currently a member of the American Psychological Association and the Maryland Psychological Association. She holds licenses to practice psychology in Maryland and the District of Columbia.


Dr. Lisa Sanchez, Ph.D.
Dr. Sanchez earned her Ph.D. at the University of Maryland, where she completed specialty training in working with children and adolescents with anxiety disorders, disruptive behavior problems, ADHD, and chronic illness. Her pre-doctoral and post-doctoral experience has included work at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC, where she provided outpatient treatment for children and families, facilitated groups for adolescents with Type 1 diabetes, and conducted neuropsychological assessments, inpatient consultation, as well as neurodevelopmental assessments of young children (ages 0-4) with developmental disabilities. This work earned her a fellowship award for Leadership and Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities.

At Maria Zimmitti, Ph.D. & Associates, Dr. Sanchez continues to provide therapy and testing services for children of all ages, including adolescents. Her interventions are based on cognitive-behavioral and parent training approaches, and are generally short-term in nature. Her comprehensive neurodevelopmental evaluations focus on young children who are suspected of having an Autism Spectrum Disorder.


Tamela Sterling, M.S., CCC-SLP
Tamela Sterling, M.S., CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist licensed in D.C. She received her Bachelor's Degree in English from the University of Maryland and a Master's Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of the District of Columbia. Tami has been working as a speech pathologist for about 8 years specializing in child language for the past 6 years. Tami completed her Fellowship in Philadelphia where she began working with pre-school children with austism, language and articulation delays.

Once she returned to DC, she now not only continues to work with preschoolers but also works with elementary and middle school children providing diagnostic and therapeutic intervention at various DC Public Charter Schools. Tami enjoys the daily challenges in the school setting and welcomes new experiences while working with children.