The Name and Frame Matters When it Comes to Public Support of Opioid Prevention Programs

Dr. Jennifer Johnson

Dr. Jennifer Johnston is a media psychologist and Associate Professor of psychology at Western New Mexico University. She was also a licensed mental health clinician for 15 years before entering academia.  She graduated from Fielding Graduate University in 2013. Since then, she conducts research at the intersection of media effects and psychological disorder, and serves as the chair of the Institutional Review Board for WNMU. Dr. Johnston’s research on the media contagion effect and mass shootings has been featured over 100 times in international and national newspapers, television, and radio. She has been invited to present findings in the U.S., Canada, and to the Federal Commission on School Safety. Currently she is working on how to shift public perception of harm reduction efforts to support life-saving legislation in New Mexico and other states. She collaborates with scholars from diverse fields, as well as her students, to reduce violence and improve the mental health and well-being of all people.