Joanne Jean Wendt, Ph.D.

Accomplishments: Honors and Activities

• Honors
• Graduated Summa Cum Laude from Buffalo State College
• Graduated with High Distinction Honors from Niagara County Community College
• Activities
• PSI-CHI, National Psychology Honor Society
• Tutor of: Statistics, Experimental research, & Family systems theory
• Ph.D. Dissertation: The Psychosocial Adjustment of Adult Female Siblings of Female Incest Survivors
• Author of book, Hidden Victim, based on dissertation research.
• Author of published poem, "Kaleidoscope of Dreams," in C. Tyler (ed.) sp; Reflections of Yesterday, The National Library of Poetry, 1997, p. 30.
• Author of published poem, "Kaleidoscope of Dreams," in R. Schaub (ed.)p; Essence of A Dream, The National Library of Poetry, 1997, p. 243.
• Inventor of “GIVE-ME-A-HUG” Parenting Aid: A Behavior Modification Program
• Quoted in published article, “Teens harbor issues based on experiences,” by Kari Luu (See entire article below)

KARl LUU
Staff Writer, The Nexus, Westview, 13500 Camino Del Sur, San Diego, CA 92129
Vol. 4, Issue 2, pp 6-7
Friday, October 7, 2005

Katie Johnson (10) has an issue. She has a problem with people who chew food with their mouths open." I hate the noise!" she said. "It's the same noise when you mix up canned tuna. Gross!"

Everybody knows how it feels to have things get on their nerves. If it's not people chewing with their mouths open, it's something else. And while these aren't often the issues that derail people's lives, most people have compulsive issues.

People tend to assume that a child's parents are the greatest influence in their life. Thus, we jump to the conclusion that we develop our pet peeves from our parents. However, according to Clinical Psychologist, Joanne J. Wendt, Ph.D., most children and teens do not develop their issues from parents.

"Mild compulsive disorders, such as perfectionism, are fairly common in teens as they go through the transitional period from child to adult," Wendt said.

Wendt says that this is because during the teen years children begin to idolize individuals outside their families, such as media or sport figures, and want to be like them.

"They want to be accepted by their peer group and may do things they do not really feel good about just to be accepted," she said. "Their brains are going through many changes as they develop higher levels of thought processes to organize their world. This generates some anxieties and compulsive behaviors that are used as a way of dealing with these uncomfortable feelings."

According to UCSD Associate Professor of Psychology Victor Ferreira, two people who have exactly the same experiences will end up with different psychological profiles.

And, from the other side, two people who have exactly the same genes (like identical twins) will also tend to end up with different psychological profiles.

"That's because our psychological profiles result from the relationship between who we are, i.e. what's in our genes and our experiences," Ferreira said.

However, Wendt says that teen compulsive behaviors usually fade away and long-term effects are very individualized.

"Mild compulsive disorders that do not significantly interfere with one's social/occupational functioning will probably not have any lasting ill effects on one's life", Wendt said. "Many individuals use their disorder to their advantage and can multi-task very effectively. Actually mild anxiety is good to have at times; it keeps one motivated to pursuing goals."