CURRICULUM
VITAE
JEAN
MERCER*
134 E. Main St., Moorestown, NJ 08057
E-mail: Jean.Mercer@stockton.edu
EDUCATION:
Mt.
Holyoke College, 1959-1961
EMPLOYMENT:
Assistant
Professor, Wheaton
College Norton ,MA
Assistant
Professor, State University College Buffalo , NY
Assistant
Professor, Richard
Stockton College Pomona , NJ
Associate
Professor, Professor, Richard
Stockton College Pomona NJ
Professor
of Psychology, Richard
Stockton College Pomona , NJ
Professor Emerita of Psychology, Richard Stockton
College
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:
Consulting
reader, Infants and Young Children,1992-
Editor, The
Phoenix
Nurture
Notes (NJAIMH Newsletter), 2000-2001.
Vice President,
New Jersey
Association for Infant Mental Health, 1996-2000
President, New Jersey
Association for Infant Mental Health, 2000-2005
Past
president, ex officio Board of Directors member, NJAIMH, 2005-
Member,
Prevention and Early Intervention Committee, New Jersey Community
Mental Health Board, 2000-
Consulting
editor, Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 2002-
Member, New Jersey Better Baby
Care Campaign Advisory Committee, 2002-3
Fellow, Council for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health,
2003-
Faculty member,
Youth Consultation Services Institute for Infant and Preschool Mental Health,
2003-
Chair, Board of
Professional Advisors, Advocates for Children in Therapy, 2003--
Expert witness,
Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing, 2005
(license revocation matter)
[*Name was legally changed from Gene Alice Lester, May,
1977]
Expert witness,
Middlesex NJ Family Court, 2005 (best interest hearing)
Member, "Critical Pathways"
teleconference on training and credentials (formed after ZTT/Mailman Foundation Infant Mental Health Systems
Development Summit Conference, September 2005)
Expert witness, Thibault
vs. Thibault, Pasco County, Florida, 2006 (child custody and discipline matter)
Expert witness, California vs. Sylvia
Jovanna Vasquez, Santa Barbara County, CA, 2007
(child abuse matter)
Reviewer, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry,
2008.
Testimony, Robertson
vs. Mannion, Montgomery County, PA, 2008 (child custody matter)
Founding member,
Institute for Science in Medicine, 2009—
Reviewer, Choice:
Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, 2009-
Board of Directors, Delaware Valley Group of WAIMH, 2010—
PUBLICATIONS:
Lester, G., & Morant, R. (1967). Sound localization
during labyrinthian stimulation.
Proceedings
of the 75th Annual Convention of the American Psychological
Association,
1,19-20.
Lester, G. (1968). The case for efferent change during
prism adaptation. Journal of
Psychology,
68, 9-13.
Lester, G. (1968). The rod-and-frame test: Some comments
on methodology. Perceptual
and
Motor Skills, 26, 1307-1314.
Lester, G. (1969). Comparison of five methods of
presenting the rod-and-frame test.
Perceptual
and Motor Skills, 29, 147-151.
Lester, G. (1969). The role of the felt position of the
head in the audiogyral illusion. Acta
Psychologica,
31, 375-384.
Lester, G. (1969). Disconfirmation of an hypothesis about
the Mueller-Lyer illusion.
Perceptual
and Motor Skills, 29, 369-370.
Lester, D., & Lester, G. (1970). The problem of the
less intelligent student in the introductory
psychology course. The Clinical Psychologist, 23(4), 11-12.
Lester, G., & Lester, D. (1970). The fear of death,
the fear of dying, and threshold differences
for death words and neutral words. Omega,1, 175-180.
Lester, G. (1970). Haidinger’s brushes and the perception
of polarization. Acta
Psychologica,
34, 107-114.
Lester, G., & Morant, R. (1970). Apparent sound
displacement during vestibular stimulation.
American Journal of Psychology, 83, 554-566.
Lester, G. (1971). Vestibular stimulation and auditory
thresholds. Journal of General
Psychology,
85, 103-105.
Lester, G. (1971). Subjects’ assumptions and scores on the
rod-and-frame test.
Perceptual
and Motor Skills, 32, 205-206.
Lester, G., & Lester, D. (1971). Suicide: The
gamble with death. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.
Lester, D., & Lester, G. (1975). Crime of passion:
Murder and the murderer. Chicago :
Nelson-Hall.
Lester, G., & Rando, H. (1975). No correlation between
rod-and-frame and visual
normalization
scores. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 40, 846.
Lester, G., Bierbrauer, B., Selfridge, B., &
Gomeringer, D. (1976). Distractibility,
intensity
of reaction, and nonnutritive sucking. Psychological Reports, 39, 1212-1214.
Lester, G. (1977). Size constancy scaling and the apparent
thickness of the shaft in the
Mueller-Lyer
illusion. Journal of General Psychology, 97, 307-398.
Mercer, J. (1979). Small people: How children develop
and what you can do about it.
Mercer, J. (1979). Personality development and the
principle of reciprocal interweaving.
Perceptual
and Motor Skills, 48, 186.
Mercer, J. (1979). Guided observations in child
development. Washington , D.C. America
Mercer, J., & Russ, R. (1980). Variables affecting
time between childbirth and the establishment
of lactation. Journal of General Psychology, 102, 155-156.
Mercer, J., & McMurphy, C. (1985). A stereotyped
following behavior in young children.
Journal
of General Psychology, 112, 261-265.
Mercer, J. (1991). To everything there is a season:
Development in the context of the
lifespan.
Lanham , MD America .
Mercer, J.,& Gonsalves, S. (1992). Parental experience
during treatment of very small
preterm
infants: Implications for mourning and for parent-infant relationships.
Illness,
Crisis, and Loss, 2, 70-73.
Gonsalves, S., & Mercer, J. (1993). Physiological
correlates of painful stimulation in preterm
infants. Clinical Journal of Pain, 9, 88-93.
Mercer, J. (1998). Infant development: A
multidisciplinary introduction. Belmont ,
CA
Brooks/Cole.
Mercer, J. (1999). ‘Psychological parenting” explained
(letter). New Jersey
Mercer, J. (2000/2001). Letter.Zero to Three, 21(3),
39.
Mercer, J. (2001). Warning: Are you aware of “holding
therapy?” (letter). Pediatrics, 107, 1498.
Mercer, J. (2001). “Attachment therapy” using deliberate
restraint: An object lesson on the
identification of unvalidated treatments. Journal of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatric
Nursing, 14(3), 105-114. This paper is posted at
http://www.bpkids.org/learning/reference/articles/index.htm#journals_#
with
permission of the publisher to the Child and Adolescent Bipolar
Foundation.
Mercer, J. (2002). Surrogate motherhood. In N. Salkind (Ed.), Child Development
(pp.
399). New York :
Macmillan Reference USA .
Mercer, J. (2002). Child psychotherapy involving physical
restraint: Techniques used in four
approaches. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 19(4), 303-314.
Kennedy, S.S., Mercer, J., Mohr, W., & Huffine, C.W.
(2002). Snake oil, ethics, and the First
Amendment: What’s a profession to do? American Journal of
Orthopsychiatry,
72(1), 5-15.
Mercer, J. (2002). Attachment therapy: A treatment without
empirical support. Scientific
Review of Mental Health Practice, 1(2), 9-16.
Reprinted in S.O. Lilienfeld, J. Ruscio, & S.J. Lynn (Eds.), Navigating the mindfield: A user’s guide to
distinguishing science from pseudoscience (pp. 435-453). Amherst, NY:
Prometheus Books.
Mercer, J. (2002). The difficulties of double blinding
(letter). Science,297, 2208.
Mercer, J. (2002) Attachment therapy. In M.Shermer (Ed.), The
Skeptic Encyclopedia of
Pseudoscience
(pp. 43-47) .Santa Barbara ,
CA
Mercer, J., & Rosa, L. (2002). Letter on Attachment
Therapy. New Jersey
School
Psychologist,
24 (8), 16-18.
Mercer, J., Sarner, L., & Rosa, L. (2003). Attachment
therapy on trial: The torture
and
death of Candace Newmaker. Westport ,
CT
Mercer, J. (2003). Letter to the editor. APSAC
Advisor,15(3), 19.
Mercer, J. (2003) Attachment therapy and adopted children:
A caution. Readers’
Forum. Contemporary
Pediatrics, 20(10), 41.
Mercer, J. (2003). Violent
therapies: The rationale behind a potentially harmful child
psychotherapy and its
acceptance by parents. Scientific
Review of Mental Health
Practice, 2(1), 27-37.
Mercer, J. (2003). Media Watch: Radio and television
programs approve of Coercive Restraint
Therapies. Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 2(2).(see also letters in subsequent issues)
Mercer, J. (2004). The dangers of Attachment Therapy:
Parent education needed.
Mercer, J. (2005). Bubbles, bottles, baby talk, and
basketty. Early Childhood Health Link
(Newsletter
of Healthy Child Care New Jersey ), 4(1),
1-2.
Mercer, J. (2005). Coercive Restraint Therapies: A
dangerous alternative mental health intervention.
Medscape General Medicine, 7(3). (see also letters in subsequent issue).
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/508956.
Mercer, J. (2006).
Understanding attachment: Parenthood, child care, and emotional development. Westport , CT
Mercer, J. (2006).
IEPs and Reactive Attachment Disorder: Recognizing and addressing misinformation. Scope (Newsletter of
the Washington State
Mercer, J., Misbach,
A., Pennington, R., & Rosa, L. (2006). Letter to the editor (age regression definition). Child
Maltreatment, 11, 378.
Mercer, J. (2007).
Behaving yourself: Moral development in the secular family. In D..McGowan (Ed.), Parenting beyond belief (pp.
104-112). New York :
Amacom Books.
Mercer, J., &
Pignotti, M. (2007). Letter to the editor (neurofeedback research critique). International
Journal of Behavioral and Consultation therapy, 3 (2), 324-325 (http://www.behavior-analyst-today.com/BAR2007/BAR-VOL-2.pdf
).
Pignotti, M., & Mercer, J. (2007). Holding Therapy and Dyadic
Developmental Psychotherapy are not
supported, acceptable social work interventions: A systematic research synthesis revisited. Research on
Social Work Practice, 17 (4),
513-519.
Mercer, J. (2007). Systematic child maltreatment: Connections with
unconventional parent and
professional education. Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice Advocate
(Division 37 of APA), 30 (2),
pp.5-6.
Mercer, J. ( 2007).Media
Watch: Wikipedia and "open source" mental health information. Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice. 5(1),
88-92.
Mercer, J. (2007)
Destructive trends in alternative infant mental health approaches. Scientific Review of Mental Health
Practice, 5(2), 44-58.
Mercer, J.,
& Pignotti, M. (2007). Shortcuts
cause errors in Systematic Research Syntheses: Rethinking evaluation of
mental health interventions. Scientific Review
of Mental Health Practice, 5(2), 59-77.
Mercer, J. (2008). Minding controls in curriculum study
(letter). Science, 319, 1184.
Mercer, J. (2009).Child
Development: Myths and Misunderstandings.Los Angeles,CA: Sage.
Mercer, J., Pennington,
R.S., Pignotti, M., & Rosa, L. (2009). Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy
is not "evidence-based": Comments in response to Becker-Weidman and Hughes (2009). Child and Family Social Work, 15, 1-5. http://www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=1356-7500
. DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2206.2009.00609.x.
Mercer, J. (2009). Child
custody evaluations, attachment theory, and an attachment measure: The science
remains limited. Scientific Review of
Mental Health Practice, 7(1), 37-54.
Mercer, J. (2010). Themes
and variations in development: Can nanny-bots act like human caregivers? Interaction Studies, 11(2), 233-237.
Mercer, J. (2011). Attachment theory and its
vicissitudes: Toward an updated theory. Theory
and Psychology, 21, 25-45.
Mercer, J. (2011). The
concept of psychological regression: Metaphors, mapping, Queen Square, and
Tavistock Square. History of Psychology,14,
174-196.
Mercer, J. (2011). Some
aspects of CAM mental health interventions: Regression, recapitulation, and “secret
sympathies”. Scientific Review of Mental
Health Practice, 8, 36-55.
Mercer, J. (2011). Book
review: Rachel Stryker’s (2010) The road
to Evergreen. Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 8, 69-74.
Mercer.J. (2011). Martial
arts research: Weak evidence. (Letter). Science,
334, 310-311.
Mercer, J. (2012). Reply
to Sudbery, Shardlow, and Huntington: Holding therapy. British Journal of Social Work,
42, 556-559 . DOI:
10.1093/bjsw.bcr078.
Mercer, J. (2013). Child development: Myths and misunderstandings,
2nd ed. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Mercer, J., (2013).
Deliverance, demonic possession, and mental illness: Some considerations for
mental health professionals. Mental
Health, Religion, and Culture 16(6), 596-611. DOI:10.1080.13674676.2012.707272.
Mercer, J. (2012).
Attachment in children and adolescents. (Childhood Studies section). H.
Montgomery (Ed.), Oxford Bibliographies Online. www.oxfordbibliographies.com.
Mercer, J. (2013, in
press). Attachment therapies. In R. Cautin & S.O. Lilienfeld (Eds.), Encyclopedia of clinical psychology. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
Mercer, J. (2013, in
press). Controversial therapies. In R. Cautin & S.O.Lilienfeld (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Clinical Psychology. New
York:Wiley-Blackwell.
Mercer, J. (2013). Holding
Therapy in Britain: Historical background, recent events, and ethical concerns.
Adoption & Fostering, 37(2),
144-156. .
Mercer, J. (2013). Holding
therapy: A harmful alternative mental health intervention. Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies, 18(2), 70-76.
Mercer, J. (2013). Giving
parents information about Reactive Attachment Disorder: Some problems. Brown University Child and Adolescent
Behavior Letter, 29 (8), 1, 6-7.
UNPUBLISHED/ IN PREPARATION:
Lester, G. (1968). Some investigations of the audiogyral
illusion. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Brandeis University
Mercer, J. (1993) The successful single parent.
Unpublished book-length ms.
Mercer, J. The
developing child in
changing
times: Infancy through adolescence Unpublished book-length ms.
Invited comments on the New Jersey Children’s Initiative
proposal (March 10, 2000 );
with
Gerard Costa and Elaine Herzog.
Invited comments on the U.S. Bright Futures children’s
mental health proposal (July
5, 2000 ); with Gerard
Costa.
Mercer, J. (2000). Notes on Attachment Therapy: Relevant
Research and Theory. Prepared for use by
the prosecution in the trial of Connell
Watkins , Colorado
Sarner, L., & Mercer, J. (2003). Statement to Human
Resources Subcommittee of House Ways and Means
Committee. http://
waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode+view&id+1342.
Mercer, J. (January, 2005). Expert witness report. State
of Utah
Division of Occupational and
Professional Licensing. Case number 2002-223.
Mercer, J. (April, 2005). Expert witness report. Child custody case, Middlesex Family Court,
New Brunswick, NJ.
Mercer, J. (October, 2006). Expert witness report. Child
custody case, Pasco County ,
Florida
BLOGS AND OTHER INTERNET MATERIALS:
“Attachment therapies and associated parenting
techniques.” www.scienceinmedicine.org/policy/papers/AttachmentTherapy.pdf.
“Critical thinking and the mastery of child development
concepts.” www.thelizlibrary.org/liz/critical-thinking.html.
RECENT PRESENTATIONS:
Various presentations on child development and parenting
issues to parent groups and
training
workshops, including CASA.
“Law, policy, and attachment issues”; presentation at the
Second Annual Conference on Attachment
of the New Jersey Psychological Association. June 9, 2000 , Newark , NJ
“Custody changes and their effect on children’s
development”; presentation at New Jersey
State Child Placement Advisory Council conference, April, 2001.
“Bad language: How the professions confuse each other with
words,” welcoming address at
conference on Attachment, New Jersey Association for Infant Mental Health,
“That cranky, crying baby”; presentation at National
Association for Education of Young Children Conference on Health in Child Care,
Princeton, NJ, May, 2002; repeated
May, 2003, May, 2004.
“Warning Signals: When parents consider unusual mental
health treatments for their children”;
presentation at Third Annual Multicultural Health Conference, Richard Stockton College, Pomona, NJ, Sept. 2002.
“Misuse and abuse of attachment theory”; keynote speech at
2002 Annual Meeting, New Jersey
Association for Infant Mental Health, Piscataway, NJ, Nov. 2002.
“Attachment Therapy: Science adversaries appeal to
scientific evidence.” Institute of Contemporary
British History conference, “Science, Its Advocates and Adversaries”, London ,
July 7-9, 2003 .
“Analyzing Attachment Therapy”, at “Right From the Start:
Supporting the Earliest Relationships
and their Impact on Later Years,” professional conference presented by Youth Consultation Services Institute for Infant and Preschool Mental
Health, Newark, Sept. 24-25, 2003
(continuing professional education credit-bearing).
“Principles of Infant Mental Health”, at “What Does Infant
Mental Health Mean to Me?”, professional
conference sponsored by New Jersey Association for Infant Mental Health, Gateway Maternal-Child Health
Consortium, Northwest Maternal-Child Health
Consortium, Piscataway, NJ, Nov. 13, 2003 (continuing professional education credit-bearing).
“Attachment and Attachment Therapy: The Good, the Bad, and
the Ugly”, at annual meeting, Gateway Maternal-Child Health Consortium. East Orange , NJ March 25, 2004 (Continuing professional education
credit).
“Attachment.” Annual conference of New Jersey Association
for Education of Young Children, East
Brunswick, NJ, Oct. 16, 2004 (continuing professional education
credit)
Discussion of Attachment Therapy. “All in the Mind”,
Australian Broadcasting Company, Dec. 18, 2004 . Transcript available at http://abc.net.au/rn/science/mind.
“Attachment: Social and Emotional Development from Birth
to Preschool.” Conference of Coalition of Infant and Toddler Educators,
East Brunswick, NJ, March 18, 2005.
“Attachment Therapy: Concerns on Unvalidated Treatments.”
Institute for Infant and Preschool
Mental Health Didactic Series, Youth Consultation Service, East Orange, NJ, May 12, 2005.
"Violent therapies
with children: History and theory.” 9th International Family Violence Research
Conference, Portsmouth , NH July 11, 2005 .
Invited state delegate and
New Jersey
presenter, Infant Mental Health Systems Development Summit conference,
sponsored by Mailman Foundation/Zero to Three. Washington DC Sept. 22-24, 2005 .
New Jersey Perinatal Mood
Disorders training program presentations, 2005-2006.
“Dangerous therapies”,
with Alan Misbach. LCSW. Independent
Educational Consultants Association conference, Philadelphia , Nov. 14, 2005 .
"Attachment
Therapy". Institute for Infant and Preschool Mental Health Didactic
Series, Youth Consultation Service, East
Orange , NJ April 27, 2006 .
"Attachment
Therapy" comments, Paula Zahn show, CNN, Nov. 14, 2006 .
"Attachment
Therapy" comments, Court TV, Nov. 27, 2006 .
"Understanding attachment." Delaware Valley
Group, WAIMH. Dec. 1, 2006 .
"Strategies for picky eaters." Jan 31, 2007 , NJ WIC
training, Ewing , NJ
"Just the facts,
ma'am: Asking and answering the right questions about evidence-based
treatment." May 17,
2007 . Florida
Association for Infant Mental Health, Ft. Lauderdale
Panel on secular
parenting, moderated by Dale McGowan. Atheist Alliance International,
annual conference, Arlington , VA Sept. 29, 2007 .
"Circumstantial
Evidence: Evaluating Design and Details of Outcome Research" (poster
presentation). Dec. 1, 2007. Zero to Three National Training Institute, Orlando , Florida
"Theory of Mind: A
New Approach to Attachment." Conference of Coalition of Infant and Toddler
Educators, New Brunswick , NJ March 14, 2008 .
"Novel Unsupported
Therapies: Pseudoscientific and Cult-like". With Monica Pignotti and James
Herbert. International Cultic Studies Association conference, Philadelphia , June 27, 2008 .
"Attachment Theory,
Evidence-based Practice, and Rogue Therapies: Using and Misusing the Concept of
Attachment." With R.S. Pennington, L. Rosa, and L. Sarner. Wisconsin
School Psychologists Association conference, LaCrosse, WI, Oct. 29, 2008 .
"Are There
Research-based Child Custody Evaluations? An Ongoing Case and an Ongoing
Discussion." Annual Conference, New Jersey Association
for Infant Mental Health, Dec.
12, 2008 , North Brunswick ,
NJ
“A Problematic Parenting
Pattern Associated With Child Deaths.” Eastern Psychological Association,
March7, 2009, Pittsburgh, PA.
“Personalities and Power
Struggles: Discipline, Temperament, and Attachment.” Coalition of Infant and
Toddler Educators Annual Conference, March 14, 2009, Somerset, NJ.
“Don’t Be So [Un]critical!
Using Critical Thinking to Foster Mastery of Child development Concepts.” Developmental Science Teaching Institute,
Society for Research in Child Development, April 1, 2009, Denver, CO.
“Psychological Concepts
and Measures in the Family Court”. Judicial Orientation, Essex Vicinage (NJ).
Princeton, NJ, Oct. 2, 2009. (With Michelle DeKlyen, Ph.D.)
“Are There Research-Based
Child Custody Evaluations?”. Conference on Infants and Children in the Courts,
sponsored by Youth Consultation Service and NJAIMH; Clara Maass Medical Center,
Belleville, NJ, March 19, 2010.
“Unconventional
Psychotherapies: Some Questions About Their History.” Eastern Psychological
Association, March 11, 2011, Cambridge, MA.
“Myths and Misunderstandings.”
Conference of the Delaware Valley Group of the World Association for Infant
Mental Health, Feb. 3, 2012, Philadelphia, PA.
Comments on Attachment
Therapy and treatment of Russian adoptees. “Life with Mikhail Zelensky”,
Rossiya-1 TV, Feb. 21, 2013.
“Fetal Psychology in
Psychohistory.” Eastern Psychological Association, March 2, 2013, New York.
“Jirina Prekopova’s
holding therapy: Scientifically founded or otherwise?” Conference of the
International Working Group on Abuse in Child Psychotherapy, April 20, 2013,
London.
“ ‘Nancy Thomas parenting’ in the U.S. and
Russia: Another part of the holding therapy problem.” With Yulia Massino. Conference of the International
Working Group on Abuse in Child Psychotherapy, April 20, 2013, London.
