Dr. Alisha Pollastri
Director of Research & Evaluation
Alisha R. Pollastri, Ph.D., is Director of Research and Evaluation at Think:Kids. For the last decade, Dr. Pollastri’s research has focused on the identification of neurobiological, social, and environmental factors that contribute to disruptive behaviors, particularly in children. At Think:Kids, Dr. Pollastri is responsible for evaluating how, and for whom, Collaborative Problem Solving works best as she strives to promote a clearer understanding of kids with challenging behavior and to improve child outcomes.
Dr. Pollastri earned her doctorate in clinical psychology at Clark University and completed a clinical internship in community and school-based mental health at South Shore Mental Health Inc. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
About Me I’m Alisha (uh-LEESH-uh; she/her/hers), and I live and work on the South Shore of Massachusetts in the USA. A clinical child psychologist by training, I always knew I wanted to do research, but love that I get to use my clinical understanding of childhood behavior disorders every day as I direct the research program at Think:Kids. My child psychology training has also come in handy while proudly parenting two fantastic kids who are currently busy launching themselves into young adulthood. I’m a third/fourth-generation American of mixed-European descent whose ancestors came to the United States in search of a better life, and then toiled on farms and as laborers to support their families, and eventually me. I carry their sacrifices with me as, like them, I try to leave things better than when I arrived. I also remain aware of their privileges, and mine. I’ve committed to using scientific inquiry to help ensure that Collaborative Problem Solving benefits as many types of people as possible, and can be accessed by all who will benefit from it.
