Jane Austin

I began working at William Paterson University(WPU) in 2004 and am now a tenured, full professor. As an educator, psychologist, and researcher, I enjoy how these roles relate to one another. For example, I find that my teaching is enhanced by my clinical training (especially in the Graduate Clinical and Counseling Psychology program) and research experience designing clinical interventions. At WPU, I've taught many different courses at both at the undergraduate and graduate level.

I am a licensed psychologist and my clinical background is broad. I have worked in a wide range of counseling centers, hospitals, community and private clinical settings. In addition, I counseled NYC teachers who were assaulted in the classroom setting. I have also worked in higher education with a focus on the areas of student affairs, counseling and development, and student retention. These experiences have enhanced my clinical skill set, and have allowed me to interact with many wonderful students, colleagues and clients.

My clinical training and research has also focused on assisting people who are dealing with chronic illness. I completed a three-year post-doctoral fellowship at Mount Sinai School of Medicine where I conducted research and worked with cancer patients and their families who are coping with this diagnosis. I continue to collaborate and publish with researchers and clinicians from Northwestern University, Georgetown University, Hackensack University Medical Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Mount Sinai School of Medicine as well as other colleagues across the country.

In the graduate program, I train student clinicians to conduct effective, ethical and compassionate work with clients. In addition to teaching Clinical Practice, I currently teach Health Psychology (a course I developed), and Clinical Psychopharmacology. At the undergraduate level, I have most recently been teaching Health Psychology and Psychology in Film.

Professional Interests

Health Psychology, women's sense-of-self in relationships, attachment and relational issues in childhood emotional neglect, trauma, effective teaching practices for counselors-in-training, positive psychology in the clinical and classroom settings, the impact of film on perceptions of mental health clinicians, the use of film in enhancing resilience.