Education

● Ph.D., Eastern Michigan University
● M.S., Eastern Michigan University
● B.A., Oakland University

Courses Taught

● Intro to Psychotherapy and Counseling
● Substance Abuse and Addictive Behavior
● Infant and Toddler Development
● Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences
● Research Methods in the Social Sciences
● Psychology Capstone Seminar
● Psychological Assessment I: Adult
● Psychological Assessment II: Child
● Psychotherapy with Children

Professional & Academic Experience

● Post-doctoral Fellow, The University of Michigan/Michigan Medicine, 2021 – 2023
● Pre-doctoral Intern, The Children’s Center Utah, 2020 – 2021
● Instructor, Eastern Michigan University, 2013 – 2021
● Graduate Research Assistant, Eastern Michigan University, 2013 – 2020

Personal

Dr. Pitzen’s research and clinical interests focus on parent-child relationships and the intergenerational transmission of attachment. She enjoys teaching courses in clinical psychology at the undergraduate and graduate level. She has a passion for supporting undergraduate and graduate students on their research projects and discussing statistics and research methods. In her free time, Dr. Pitzen enjoys traveling and spending time with her dog, Henry.

Honors and Affiliations

● 2023-2024 Psi Chi Professional Development Grant for Teachers in Psychology Awardee
● Society for the Teaching of Psychology Research on Small Budgets Presidential Task Force, Member
● Association for Psychological Science, Member
● American Psychological Association, Member
● Psi Chi International Honor Society in Psychology, Member
● Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health, Member

Recent Publications

Julian, M., Miller, F., & Pitzen, J. (2025). Relationship-focused interventions and psychotherapy: Applications for child health and behavior. In M.H. Bornstein & P.E. Shah (Eds.), APA handbook of pediatric psychology, developmental-behavioral pediatrics, and developmental science (Vol. 2). American Psychological Association.

Pitzen, J., Lawler, J., Chow, C.M., Arble, E., & Huth-Bocks, A.C. (2025). Parenting reflectivity and mind-mindedness as unique predictors of children’s attachment security and social-emotional development. British Journal of Developmental Psychology.

Pitzen, J., Rice, D., Duran, B.S., Jester, J., Riggs, J., Julian, M., Appold, B., Muzik, M., Rosenblum, K., and the Michigan Collaborative for Infant Mental Health Research. (2025). The Michigan Model of Infant Mental Health – Home visiting increases preventive services while decreasing emergency services for children. Frontiers in Psychology.

Brophy-Herb, H.E., Lawler, J., Stacks, A., Freeman, S., Pitzen, J., Muzik, M., Rosenblum, K., and the Michigan Collaborative for Infant Mental Health Research (2023). Longitudinal associations between parental reflective functioning and maternal mind-mindedness. Journal of Family Psychology, 37(6), 830-840.

Julian, M.M., Riggs, J., Wong, K., Lawler, J., Brophy-Herb, H.E., Ribaudo, J., Stacks, A., Jester, J.M., Pitzen, J., Rosenblum, K., Muzik, M., and the Michigan Collaborative for Infant Mental Health Research. (2023). Relationships reduce risks for child maltreatment: Results of an experimental trial of Infant Mental Health Home Visiting. Frontiers in Psychiatry (14).

Lawler, J., Pitzen, J., Aho, K., Ip, K., Liu, Y., Hruschak., J., Muzik, M., Rosenblum, K., & Fitzgerald, K. (2022). Self-regulation and psychopathology in young children. Child Psychiatry and Human Development.