Frank John Ninivaggi

Frank John Ninivaggi, MD, is an associate attending physician at Yale-New Haven Hospital, an assistant clinical professor of child psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine’s Child Study Center in New Haven, Connecticut, and the former psychiatric director of the Devereux Glenholme School in Washington,

Connecticut.

He is board-certified by the American Academy of Psychiatry and Neurology. He received specialty Fellowship training in child and adolescent psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center, where he continues to hold dual university and Yale-New Haven Hospital Health System appointments. He also received training in intensive child therapy in London in the late 1970s and early 1980s at the Anna Freud Center and the Tavistock Institute for Human Relations. He also received formal training in Ayurvedic Medicine and holds a diploma in Ayurveda (Ayur. D) from the Western New England Institute for Ayurvedic Studies. Before entry into medical school, he trained in painting with artists Paulina Peavy and Maulsby Kimball in New York City and took courses at the Brooklyn Museum.

He is in private practice, performs school consultations, writes, and teaches at Yale. In 2004, he received the distinction of certification as a Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He has been a longtime member of the Connecticut State Medical Society. He is an active member of Yale’s Physician Wellness, Engagement, and Burnout Prevention committees.

His long-standing research on conceptual intelligence, “Borderline Intellectual Functioning and Academic Problems,” has been published in Sadock, Sadock, and Ruiz (Editors), Kaplan & Sadock’s

Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, 8th edition (2005), 9th edition (2009), and 10th edition (2017). His new chapter, “Malingering,” is included in the 9th and 10th editions, also the upcoming 11th ed. in 2024.

Dr. Ninivaggi’s publications include the following textbooks: "Ayurveda: A Comprehensive Guide to Traditional Indian Medicine for the West" (2008, 2013), "Envy Theory: Perspectives on the Psychology of Envy" (2010), "Biomental Child Development: Perspectives on Psychology and Parenting" (2013), "Making Sense of Emotion: Innovating Emotional Intelligence" (2017), "Learned Mindfulness: Physician Engagement and MD Wellness" (2020) and a chapter, “The Psychology of Aging,” in Yue et al. (eds.), The Comprehensive Treatment of the Aging Spine: Minimally Invasive and Advanced Techniques (2011).

Twitter: @constantine123A

Articles: psychologytoday; Ninivaggi, "Envy This!"