Norine G. Johnson (December 3, 1935 – November 19, 2011) was an American psychologist and a past president of the American Psychological Association (APA). Johnson was the founding director of psychology for Kennedy Memorial Hospital (later renamed the Franciscan Hospital for Children), ran a private practice and was on the faculty of Boston University School of Medicine.

Biography[edit]

Johnson was born in Indianapolis. Her mother, Marie Collins Goode, was a teacher, and her father, Frank O. Goode, was a dentist. Johnson's paternal grandmother was married to a sheriff; he was killed when they were a young couple. Johnson often thought about the strength that her grandmother showed after that loss, and those thoughts inspired some of her professional research interests.^[1]

Johnson completed a bachelor's degree at DePauw University.^[2] She earned a PhD in clinical psychology from Wayne State University in 1972.^[3] After an internship at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Johnson was one of the earliest members of the budding specialty of pediatric psychology.^[1]

As a psychologist in private practice, Johnson had a clinical interest in the treatment of adolescent females. She was a consultant for the film 5 Girls, a documentary that followed the growth of five subjects from age 13 to age 17. She served on the faculty of Boston University School of Medicine.^[3] Johnson founded a hospital psychology department at Kennedy Memorial Hospital (which later became Franciscan Hospital for Children).^[4]

After learning that no woman had been president of the Massachusetts Psychological Association in almost 50 years, Johnson ran for and was elected to that office, beginning a two-year term in 1981.^[1] She served on the APA Council of Representatives and convinced the organization to sell Psychology Today; the APA owned the publication at the time but it was costing the organization millions of dollars.^[5] In 1997, she joined the APA Board of Directors.^[1] She assumed the APA presidency in 2001.^[6] Johnson, who aligned with the biopsychosocial model, was APA president when the concept of health was first acknowledged in the association's mission statement.^[1]

Johnson wrote three books. Her last work, a historical novel titled An American Family Myth, was finished after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was married to Wayne Woodlief, a columnist with the Boston Herald'.^[4]

She died of breast cancer on November 19, 2011.^[1][7] The Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy (Division 29 of the APA) awards the Norine Johnson, PhD, Psychotherapy Research Grant.^[8]

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