Dr. Francesca Luizza began her undergraduate career at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada where she studied criminal psychology under Robert Hare, Ph.D., the developer of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). She then moved back to Chicago and graduated from DePaul University with a Bachelor of Science in psychology and neuroscience. Dr. Luizza earned her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) from the California School of Professional Psychology-San Diego in 2020 and completed her APA internship at the Los Angeles County Jail. As a doctoral student, Dr. Luizza trained at Alpine Special Treatment Center where she worked with patients on conservatorship; R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility where she treated and evaluated maximum security inmate-patients in general population, protective custody, and solitary confinement; and Sharper Future, where she received specialized training and certification working with male and female sex offenders on federal, county, and state probation and parole.
During her internship, Dr. Luizza worked with male, female, and transgender populations at Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood and the Forensic Inpatient Hospital at Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles. Dr. Luizza provided treatment to inmates experiencing psychosis, mood-related issues, substance use disorders, trauma, personality issues, and paraphilias. She was supervised on two long-term cases where she conducted psychodynamic therapy to females charged with infanticide and provided on-call crisis intervention to all emergencies related to active suicidal/homicidal ideations, behaviors, and attempts, recalcitrant inmates, and gravely disabled patients. She conducted formal trainings on Suicide Risk and Assessment and Non-Violent Crisis Intervention to custody staff, other healthcare professionals, and newly graduated Los Angeles Sheriff Deputies. She also developed a Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) program tailored for females in custody and performed discipline review board evaluations, competency evaluations, violence risk assessments, involuntary hospitalization holds, and certificate review hearings.
Dr. Luizza completed her forensic post-doctoral training at Todd. D. Pizitz, Ph.D., Inc. where she continues to treat and evaluate federal defendants prior to sentencing and once convicted of drug and alcohol related offenses, violent, and interpersonal crimes. Dr. Luizza is certified as an Independent Level Treatment Provider with the State of California Sexual Offender Management Board (CASOMB) and is trained and certified to provide SARATSO risk assessments. Lastly, she earned her fellowship from the San Diego Psychoanalytic Center and is on the Expert Witness List of psychologists to provide court-ordered forensic evaluations and expert witness testimony for the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego. Dr. Luizza’s specialty areas include forensic evaluations and psychological evaluations, substance abuse and addiction, emotional dysregulation, depression and anxiety, criminal thinking and behavior, attachment trauma, and relationship issues.