Faculty Profiles

I greatly enjoy training students to be excellent marriage and family therapists by not only equipping them with essential marriage and family therapy (MFT) theories and techniques but also by helping them to explore all of the reasons, healthy and unhealthy, which led them to be interested in the field of MFT in the first place. I also am passionate about mentoring students to consider the ways in which their Christian beliefs and the practice of family therapy both intersect and conflict with one another.

In my personal time I enjoy reading fiction, running, hiking anywhere I can find a mountain, wrestling with my four boys, and traveling abroad.

Virginia Tech
Ph.D., Human Development (emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy)

Northwestern University
M.S., Marriage and Family Therapy

University of Minnesota
B.A., Spanish Studies
B.A., Global Studies

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Illinois, #166.000941

AAMFT-Approved Supervisor
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, #126629

My research interests fall along two paths:

• The intersections of Christian faith and MFT
  Investigating how MFT students at faith-based institutions best learn to integrate matters of personal faith in their professional practice of family therapy
  
  
• Couple and family issues related to caring for children with developmental disabilities
  Studying how couples raising children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) maintain their relationships in the face of the various stressors that come with having a child with ASD

Refereed Journal Articles

Johnson, J., Van Dyke, D., & Yoo, H. (2021). Faith integration in marriage and family therapy education: A Delphi study of the learning experiences of students enrolled in Christian-faith based MFT graduate programs. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 49, 22-37. 

Johnson, E. G., Davis, E. B., Johnson, J., Pressley, J., Sawyer, S., & Spinazzola, J. (2020). The effectiveness of trauma-informed wilderness therapy with adolescents: A pilot study of New Vision Wilderness Therapy. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12, 878-887. 

Johnson, J. (2020). A hermeneutic of Divine relationship: Implications for the education and training of Christian marriage and family therapists. Christian Higher Education, 19, 235-253. 

Johnson, J., & Piercy, F. P. (2017). Exploring partner intimacy among couples raising children on the autism spectrum: A ground theory investigation. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 43, 644-661. 

Piercy, F. P., Glass, V., Johnson, J., Bigby, B., Bao, A., & Austin, J., (2013). What family therapists can learn from stand-up comics and those who heckle them. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 24, 110-128.

Johnson, J. (2012). Treating couples raising children on the autism spectrum: A marriage-friendly approach. Contemporary Family Therapy, 34, 555-565. 

Johnson, J. (2012). Using externalization as a means to regulate emotion in children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 23, 163-168. 

Book Chapters

Johnson, J. (2019). Family therapy. In R. Rieske (Ed.), Handbook of interdisciplinary treatments for autism spectrum disorder (pp. 423-444). New York, NY: Springer.

Johnson, J. (2019). The parental subsystem: The effects of raising a child with ASD. In B. Turns, J. Ramisch, & J. Whiting (Eds.), Systemically treating autism: A clinician’s guide for empowering families (pp. 37-44). New York: NY: Routledge.

Johnson, J. (2019). How to assist and empower parents raising a child with ASD. In B. Turns, J. Ramisch, & J. Whiting (Eds.), Systemically treating autism: A clinician’s guide for empowering families (pp. 45-52). New York, NY: Routledge.

Invited Scholarship

Johnson, J. (2020, September 28). Atlases no more: Parenting during the COVID-19 crucible [Web log post]. 

 

Johnson, J. (2020, November). MFT & me: The self of the family therapist. Plenary address given at the Illinois Affiliation of Marriage and Family Therapists annual conference, Naperville, IL.

Johnson, J. (2019, March). Speaking of faith: Therapist spiritual/religious beliefs and the practice of marriage and family therapy. Seminar presented at the International Family Therapy Association’s 27th annual World Family Therapy Conference, Aberdeen, Scotland.

Johnson, J. (2018, March). The personal professional: Reflections on the use of self in family therapy. Seminar presented at the International Family Therapy Association’s 26th annual World Family Therapy Conference, Bangkok, Thailand.

Johnson, J., & Hiebert, W. J. (2017, March). Resurrecting co-therapy: Considerations for engaging in therapeutic partnerships. Seminar presented at the International Family Therapy Association’s 25th annual World Family Therapy Conference, Málaga, Spain.

Johnson, J. (2016, April). Changing modalities after therapy has begun: Moving from individual to couple and family therapy. Seminar presented at the International Family Therapy Association’s 24th annual World Family Therapy Conference, Kona, Hawaii.

Johnson, J. (2016, March). Scholarly writing in family therapy: A how-to guide for international academics and clinicians. Seminar presented at the International Family Therapy Association’s 24th annual World Family Therapy Conference, Kona, Hawaii.

Johnson, J. (2015, March). Strategies for working with couples raising children on the autism spectrum. Seminar presented at the International Family Therapy Association’s 23rd annual World Family Therapy Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

• MAFT 601: Enduring Questions for Systemic Therapists
• MAFT 624: MFT Ethics and Professional Practice
• MAFT 633: Couple Therapy
• MAFT 643: Trauma and Addiction
• MAFT 645: Systemic Interventions with Children and Adolescents
• MAFT 671-674: Personal and Professional Development Group
• MAFT 681-686: Clinical Practicum

• American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
• Illinois Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
  • Board of Directors (2015 - 2018)
• International Family Therapy Association
  • Board of Directors (2015 - Present)
  • Treasurer (2019 - Present)