Joanne Nicholson, Ph.D.

Joanne Nicholson, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and the Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center, and a clinical and research psychologist with over 25 years of experience working with parents with mental illness and their families. She has an active program of research on parents with mental illnesses and their families, in partnership with people in recovery. She and her collaborators have developed education and training programs and materials for parents, integrating the current knowledge on parents with mental illnesses and evaluating interventions for families, including the pilot Family Options intervention.

Joanne has provided training and consultation to local, regional, and national organizations such as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the Manic Depressive/ Depressive Association, Mental Health America, Families for Depression Awareness, the Institute on Family-Centered Care, and the Child Welfare League of America. She has visited parents and programs around the world as a consultant and trainer, working together with national and international groups in Australia, The Netherlands, Spain, Norway, New Zealand and provinces across Canada. She works in partnership with researchers, providers, individuals living with mental illness and their children who share her commitment to making evidence-informed, community-based change on behalf of families. Joanne and her colleagues published the first guide for parents living with mental illness written by parents, Parenting Well When You’re Depressed. She has published numerous papers in professional journals and edited volumes, as well as provided interviews for newspapers, magazines and radio in the U.S. and other countries.