Perry W. Buffington, PhD

Perry W. Buffington, Ph.D., better known to his students as “Dr. Buff,” is a licensed psychologist with over 20 years of private-practice, consulting experience who joined the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at the UGA Griffin Campus as a Lecturer in Psychology Fall Semester 2013 after having taught as an adjunct faculty member in the Franklin College at UGA Griffin since Fall 2007. He earned his B.A. degree with a double major in history and psychology from Georgia Southern University, his M.A. in Counselor Education from the University of Georgia, and his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Kentucky. A few years back, he returned to the classroom himself as a student, completed his M.S. in Clinical Psychopharmacology, finished internships associated with this new degree, and passed the Psychopharmacology Examination for Psychologists (PEP).

Currently, Dr. Buffington divides his time between his practice and the classroom, where he teaches a wide variety of psychology courses—ranging from PSYC 3230 Abnormal Psychology, PSYC 3300 Social and Personality Development, PSYC 3810 Psychology of Health, PSYC 3980 Research Design in Psychology, PSYC 3990 Research Analysis in Psychology, and PSYC 4150 Biological Foundations of Health Psychology to his specialty, PSYC 5850 Psychopharmacology—Drugs and Behavior.

In April 2014 at its annual Scholarship and Awards Presentation Ceremony, the UGA Psychology Department recognized Dr. Buffington as the recipient of the Psi Chi Undergraduate Teaching Award, the Department’s main undergraduate teaching award.

Dr. Buffington has thirteen books and numerous refereed journal articles to his credit, and he has also penned thousands of articles for periodicals, mainly as a contributing editor for Delta Air Lines’ in-flight magazine, Sky, and a syndicated columnist with Universal Press.

In addition to the teaching he does as a lecturer in the Franklin College at UGA Griffin, Dr. Buffington teaches Continuing Education classes for mental health professionals all across the United States. His area of expertise is “Minimizing Psychopharamacologic Errors: A Proactive Approach for Mental Health Professionals.”