Academic Background:

1990: University of Montana, Ph.D., Clinical Psychology

1984: University of Wisconsin-Madison, B.A., Psychology and History

 
Professional Interests:

My professional interests are in cultural psychology, which attempts to understand people as cultural beings through their own indigenous psychological perspectives, and rural community psychology, which actively works to enhance the strengths and quality of life in rural communities.

Teaching:

I have taught undergraduate courses in lifespan developmental psychology, abnormal psychology, cross-cultural psychology, community psychology, and senior seminar. I have taught graduate courses in rural and Alaska psychology, multicultural psychological assessment, psychotherapy, family therapy, multicultural psychopathology, and community interventions for serious mental illness.

Practice:

I work in partnerships on prevention projects with rural Alaska Native communities. I am also interested in training psychologists for rural work. As a clinician, I am particularly interested in approaches that allow people with serious mental illness to live comfortably in their community, in culturally responsive individual and family therapy for youth and adults, and in multicultural psychological assessment.

Research:

My research interests include development of culturally grounded preventative and health services for Alaska Natives, resiliency processes and health development of Alaska Native and other circumpolar indigenous youth, multicultural practice, adaptive responses to trauma, including cultural and intergenerational trauma, and seasonal behavior variation in the Arctic. Our university research group is currently collaborates in community partnerships on a participatory research project. Together, we are testing a culturally based prevention program that promotes reasons for living and sobriety among youth in Alaska Native rural villages. We hope to establish it as the first evidence based practice for Alaska Natives. Over the past decade, we have collaborated with Alaska Native people from throughout the state on research to discover Alaska Native developmental pathways to sobriety and reasons for life. Our community collaborators have used this knowledge to design of a culturally based prevention program that we are currently testing through a National Center for Minority Health Disparities funded prevention trial. We are also collaborating on a National Science Foundation funded International Polar Year study of the resiliency processes of circumpolar indigenous youth. Here we seek to understand the locally defined successful pathways to adulthood of young people from remote international circumpolar indigenous communities. Another research strand is asks how do we best train culturally competent providers to provide assessment and health services in a diverse, globalized world. While a Fulbright scholar at the University of Oslo, I studied the experience of international refugees, who share with indigenous people similar involuntary acculturation and group traumatic experiences. Finally, I am interested in seasonal behavior variation in the Arctic, including SAD.

Selected Publications:

Selected peer-reviewed publications (in chronological order)

Nelson, C. & Allen, J. (1994). Effects of maternal hospitalization in early childhood: Anticipated anxiety associated with separation for childbirth and surgery. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 19, 629-642.

Allen, J., Walsh, J.A., Murphy, K.C., & Seekins , T. (1995). Rural multidisciplinary pain center follow-up study:   Evaluation with a no-treatment comparison group. American Journal of Pain Management. 5, 126-132.

Dana, R., Conner, M.G., & Allen, J. (1996). Quality of care and cost-containment in managed mental health: Policy, education, research, advocacy . Psychological Reports, 79, 1395-1422.

Allen, J. (1998). Personality assessment with American Indians and Alaska Natives: Instrument considerations and service delivery style. Journal of Personality Assessment, 70, 17-42.

Nelson, C. & Allen, J. (1999). Reduction of healthy children’s fears related to hospitalization and medical procedures: The effectiveness of multimedia computer instruction in pediatric psychology. Children’s Health Care, 28, 1-13.

Shelton, P., Hartmann, A.M., Allen, J. (2002). Seasonal photoperiod, gender, and P300. Biological Psychology, 60, 151-171.

Allen, J. (2002). Assessment training for practice in American Indian and Alaska Native settings. Journal of Personality Assessment , 79, 216-225.

Whatley, J.P., Allen, J. & Dana, R.H. (2003). Racial Identity and the MMPI in African American male college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 9, 344-352.

Allen, J. & Dana, R.H. (2004), Methodological issues in cross–cultural and multicultural Rorschach research. Journal of Personality Assessment, 82, 189-206.

Mohatt, G.V, Hazel, K.L., Allen, J., Stachelrodt , M., Hensel , C., Fath , R. (2004). Unheard Alaska: Participatory action research on sobriety with Alaska Natives. American Journal of Community Psychology, 33, 263-273.

Allen, J., LeMaster , P., & Deters, P. (2004). Mapping pathways to services: Description of local service systems for American Indian and Alaska Native children by Circles of Care. Journal of American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research (Special Issue). From http://www.uchsc.edu/ai/ncaianmhr/journal/index.htm

Simmons, T. M., Novins , D., & Allen, J. R. (2004). Words have power: (Re)–defining serious emotional disturbance for American Indian and Alaska Native children and their families. Journal of American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research (Special Issue). From http://www.uchsc.edu/ai/ncaianmhr/journal/index.htm

Bess, G. & Allen, J. (2004). The evaluation lifecycle: A retrospective assessment of stages and phases of the Circles of Care program. Journal of American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research (Special Issue). From http://www.uchsc.edu/ai/ncaianmhr/journal/index.htm

Thurman, P. J., Allen, J., & Deters, P. (2004). The Circles of Care evaluation: Doing participatory evaluation with American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Journal of American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research (Special Issue). From http://www.uchsc.edu/ai/ncaianmhr/journal/index.htm

Mohatt, G. V., Rasmus, S. M., Thomas, L. Allen^, J., Hazel^, K., & Hensel , C. (2004). “Tied Together Like a Woven Hat:” Protective Pathways to Alaska Native Sobriety, Harm Reduction, 1. From http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/1/1/10

Allen, J., Mohatt, G.W., Hazel, K., Rasmus, M., Thomas, L. & Lindley, S.   (2006). The tools to understand: Community as co-researcher on culture specific protective factors for Alaska Natives. Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, 32, 41-59.

Allen, J. (2007). A multicultural assessment supervision model to guide research and practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 38, 248-258.

Doorack , J., Allen, J., Battaglia , J. (2007). Co-occurring SAD Symptomatology and schizophrenia at high Latitude: A pilot study. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 66, 248-256.

Mohatt, G.V., Rasmus, S.M., Thomas, L., Allen, J., Hazel, K., Marlatt , G.A., The People Awakening Team. (2007). Risk, Resilience, and Natural Recovery: A Model of Recovery from Alcohol Abuse for Alaska Natives. Addiction, 103, 205–215.

Jurcevic S., Vlastelica M., Allen J., Dahl S. (2008). G ender differences in war-related disappearance in Croatia (1991-1995). Psychiatria Danubina , 20, 1, 53-62.

Books

Dana, R. H. & Allen, J. (2008). Cultural Competency Training in a Global Society. NY: Springer

Selected Book Chapters

Allen , J. & Walsh, J.R. (2000). A construct-based approach to equivalence: Methodologies for cross-cultural and multicultural personality assessment research. In R. H. Dana, (ed.), Handbook of multicultural/cross-cultural personality assessment (pp. 63-85). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum

Allen , J., Vaage, A. B., & Hauff, E. (2006). Refugees and asylum seekers in societies .. In Sam, D. & Berry, J. (ed.), Cambridge Handbook of Acculturation Psychology. ( pp . 198-217). London: Cambridge University Press.

Allen , J. (2006). Ethnic identity development measures: Black racial identity attitude scale. Encyclopedia of Multicultural Psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Allen, J., Mohatt, G.W., Hazel, K., Rasmus, M., Thomas, L. & Lindley, S.   (2006). The tools to understand: Community as co-researcher on culture specific protective factors for Alaska Natives. In Reeb , R., (ed.), Community Action Research: Benefits to Community Members and Service Providers. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press. ( simultaneously published in Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community).

Mohatt, G.V., Allen, J., & Thomas, L. (2007). Drug and alcohol abuse in cross-cultural counseling. In P. B. Pedersen, J. G. Draguns , W. J. Lonner and J. E. Trimble, Counseling Across Cultures, 6e, (pp. 395-414). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Dana, R. H. & Allen, J. (2009). The human face of globalization, In Dana, R. H. & Allen, J. (ed.), Cultural Competency Training in a Global Society, (pp. 5-24). NY: Springer.

Dana, R. H. & Allen, J. (2009). Globalization: Psychological problems and social needs , In Dana, R. H. & Allen, J. (ed.), Cultural Competency Training in a Global Society, (pp. 25-42). NY: Springer.

Dana, R. H. & Allen, J. (2009). Transitions integrating research and practice , In Dana, R. H. & Allen, J. (ed.), Cultural Competency Training in a Global Society, (pp. 67-78). NY: Springer.

Book Reviews

Allen, J. (2008). This Decision Not to Drink. A review of Bea Medicine’s ‘Drinking and Sobriety in Lakota Society.’ Wicazo Sa Review, 23, 152-154.