Research and publications

My research asks how stress and emotion relate to chronic pain, and what role stigma plays in attitudes toward seeking psychological help. With colleagues and students I have advised, I study these questions among Black, Latine and Asian American adults with chronic pain. We look at stressful life events and race-based discrimination, and at anger, a sense of injustice and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as possible links between stress and pain. I also write about how therapists build their skills through deliberate practice, the method behind my two books with the American Psychological Association.

I'm a licensed psychologist in Washington and an Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology, and I have published more than 20 peer-reviewed articles. Before joining The Seattle School, I was an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at Seattle Pacific University and then an Acting Assistant Professor in Family Medicine at the University of Washington. My ORCID iD is 0000-0002-5378-3366. My About page has more on my training and clinical work.

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Stress, emotion and chronic pain

Race-based discrimination and centralized pain

A 2026 research letter in the Journal of General Internal Medicine reports a 2023 online survey of 673 U.S. adults with self-reported chronic pain who identified as Black, Latine or Asian American. Those who reported more race-based discrimination also reported more centralized pain symptoms, even after we accounted for stressful life events, and in our models that association ran entirely through anger and a sense of injustice.

Jin, J., Shea, M., Yarns, B. C., & Jin, J. (2026). The impact of race-based discrimination on chronic pain beyond life adversity: An online survey study among U.S. adults. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 41(3), 872–874. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-025-09669-2

Stressful life events and centralized pain

In 673 Black, Latine and Asian American adults with self-reported chronic pain, more stressful life events went with more centralized pain symptoms and higher pain intensity. Anger and a sense of injustice statistically accounted for part of the first link and all of the second. We suggest that psychological treatment for centralized pain could address anger and a sense of injustice. The anger work in Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy is one way to do that.

Jin, J., & Yarns, B. C. (2024). The impact of stressful life events on centralized pain and pain intensity: A combined model examining the mediating roles of anger and perceived injustice among racially minoritized adults with chronic pain. The Journal of Pain, 25(11), Article 104642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2024.104642

Sensitization in chronic pain, PTSD and mild traumatic brain injury

A 2025 open-access scoping review in Biology covers recent research on the neurobiology of chronic pain, PTSD and mild traumatic brain injury, and I wrote its section on pain. The review found no biomarker that identifies or separates the three conditions, and it points to sensitization, a heightened responsiveness of the nervous system, as their common thread. We propose that therapy focused on sensitization could add to standard, empirically supported care.

Young, G., Thielen, H., Samuelson, K., & Jin, J. (2025). Neurobiology of chronic pain, posttraumatic stress disorder, and mild traumatic brain injury. Biology, 14(6), Article 662. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology14060662

Stressful life events and PTSD symptoms in Latinx adults

Among 259 Latinx adults with chronic pain, those who reported more stressful life events also reported more centralized pain symptoms, and PTSD symptoms statistically carried part of that association. We found no evidence that familism, a cultural value that centers the family, changed the strength of the links from stressful life events to PTSD symptoms or to centralized pain symptoms. We call for culturally informed pain care and for more research on cultural factors.

Lagunas, M.-A., Jin, J., Widman, C., Thurlkill, L., & Mateer, E. M. (2026). The moderating role of familism on stressful life events, PTSD symptoms, and centralized pain symptoms among Latinx adults with chronic pain. Journal of Latinx Psychology, 14(1), 17–33. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000287

Survey record on Mendeley Data

In 2024 I published a record on Mendeley Data that describes an online survey I conducted with adults who have chronic pain. The survey ran on Prolific from July to September 2023 and was open to U.S. adults who had lived with chronic pain for at least 3 months and identified as Black, Latino or Asian. The record also sets out the survey's hypotheses about stressful life events, anger, a sense of injustice and centralized pain, along with the questionnaires it used.

Jin, J. (2024). Stressful life events predicts central pain symptoms (Version 1) [Data set]. Mendeley Data. https://doi.org/10.17632/z6skpk2mh6.1

Stigma and help-seeking in chronic pain

Help-seeking stigma and family values in Latine adults

In a survey of 259 Latine adults with chronic pain, recruited online through Prolific, self-stigma about seeking psychological help statistically accounted for the link between perceived public stigma and attitudes toward seeking help. The link from public stigma to self-stigma was weaker among people who placed a high value on family (familism), which suggests that family values may act as a buffer.

Lagunas, M.-A., Jin, J., Rivera, P., & Widman, C. (2025). Internalization of help-seeking stigma and the moderating role of familism among Latine adults with chronic pain. Journal of Health Psychology, 30(12), 3442–3458. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053241312493

Stigma profiles in racially minoritized adults

In a survey of 679 racially minoritized adults with chronic pain, we identified two subgroups, one low and one high on both public stigma and self-stigma about seeking psychological help. People in the low-stigma subgroup had more favorable attitudes toward seeking help and lower anxiety, depression and pain intensity, and men were more often in the high-stigma subgroup.

VanHouten, L. E., Greenway, T. S., & Jin, J. (2025). Stigma of seeking professional psychological help: A person-centered approach to stigma profiles among racially minoritized adults with chronic pain. Stigma and Health. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/sah0000615

Measuring help-seeking attitudes across three groups

We tested the Mental Help Seeking Attitudes Scale, a nine-item questionnaire first validated in a mostly White sample, with 161 Asian American, 259 Black American and 259 Latine American adults with chronic pain. Its items held together as a single measure in all three groups, with a weaker statistical fit than in the original validation, and we recommend using the scale with care among racially minoritized people who have chronic pain.

Fossum, J. L., Lagunas, M.-A., Ichimura, E., Widman, C., Mateer, E., Tohmon, K., & Jin, J. (2025). Cultural validity of the Mental Help Seeking Attitudes Scale among three racially minoritized groups with chronic pain in the United States. Assessment. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911251394290

Other peer-reviewed articles

My other peer-reviewed articles cover psychotherapy training, stigma and help-seeking among Asian Americans, and a range of topics in culture, religion and health.

Psychotherapy training and deliberate practice

  • Jin, J., & Wang, D. (2025). Deliberate practice in spiritual and religious competencies for professional psychologists: An example of evidenced-based continuing education. Practice Innovations, 10(2), 144–155. https://doi.org/10.1037/pri0000264
  • Jin, J., Lagunas, M.-A., Foster, M., Mateer, E., Ichimura, E., Duffield, C., & Taone, T. (2024). Deliberate practice in anti-racist psychology. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 18(3), 248–255. https://doi.org/10.1037/tep0000447

Stigma, help-seeking and self-compassion among Asian Americans

  • Lagunas, M.-A., Ichimura, E., Mateer, E. M., & Jin, J. (2025). Asian Americans' intention to seek help: The mediating influence of self-stigma on the theory of planned behavior. Stigma and Health, 10(3), 521–531. https://doi.org/10.1037/sah0000500
  • Mateer, E. M., Jin, J., Taone, T., Duffield, C., & Foster, M. (2024). Does self-compassion buffer against stigma among Asian Americans? Stigma and Health, 9(4), 553–562. https://doi.org/10.1037/sah0000455
  • Kim, P. Y., Jin, J., & Bau, K. E. (2022). A mediator or moderator? Self-compassion's role in the association between emotional self-control and help-seeking attitudes among Asian American college students. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 13(2), 185–193. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000248

Other topics

  • Weedman, M. V., Greenway, T. S., Ratchford, J. L., Jin, J., & Schnitker, S. A. (2026). A person-centered approach to situational stress: The role of cognitive resources in appraisals of interracial contact. The Journal of Social Psychology, 166(2), 264–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2025.2545936
  • Ichimura, E., Shelby, T., Taone, T., Kim, P. Y., & Jin, J. (2025). Familial and religious ethnic–racial socialization in promoting activism among Asian American Christians. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 95(1), 88–100. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000766
  • Kim, A., & Jin, J. (2025). The effect of COVID-19 on health insurance and mental health. Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation, 80(3), 1215–1222. https://doi.org/10.1177/10519815241290291
  • Mateer, E. M., Erickson, T. M., Jin, J., Glisky, M., & Asgarian, A. (2025). Factor analysis of neuropsychological attention measures with mild traumatic brain injury patients. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/23279095.2025.2566749
  • Duffield, C., Mateer, E. M., Foster, M., Jin, J., Fung, W., & Fung, J. (2024). God perfectionism as a mediator of intrinsic religiosity and life satisfaction: A Christian sample of young adults. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 52(1), 115–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/00916471231215293
  • Fung, J., Fung, W., Rosales, A. I., Jin, J., & Pettit, R. M. (2023). The role of implicit biases and explicit attitudes toward the poor in donation choices. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 52(1), 153–175. https://doi.org/10.1177/08997640211073530
  • Jin, J., Zhou, V., Taone, T., & Ichimura, E. (2023). #NotTheSame: Asian American subgroups moderate the relation between campus racial climate and perceived burdensomeness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, Article 982535. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.982535
  • Pettit, R. M., Jin, J., Rosales, A., Fung, W., & Fung, J. (2022). The role of attachment to God in understanding religiosity and generosity among Christian young adults. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 50(3), 355–368. https://doi.org/10.1177/00916471211025530
  • Tausen, B. M., Jin, J., Kim, P. Y., Law, K., & Kendall, D. (2020). Academic community support, campus racial climate, and subjective well-being during the coronavirus outbreak among Asian American college students. Journal of Asian American Studies, 23(3), 367–385. https://doi.org/10.1353/jaas.2020.0030
  • Greenway, T. S., Jin, J., Shepherd, A. M., & Schnitker, S. A. (2019). Beyond the liberal–conservative binary: Generosity, religion, and a latent profile analysis of moral foundations in a Christian sample. American Behavioral Scientist, 63(14), 1938–1964. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764219850867

Books

Both of my books with the American Psychological Association are built on deliberate practice, which means rehearsing specific clinical skills and checking each attempt against set criteria. The second edition of Mastering the Inner Skills of Psychotherapy (2026), written with Tony Rousmaniere, is a manual for building the psychological capacity therapists need to stay present with their clients. Deliberate Practice in Multicultural Therapy (2023) applies the method to working with clients across cultural differences. Teaching and training has more about both books.

  • Rousmaniere, T., & Jin, J. (2026). Mastering the inner skills of psychotherapy: A deliberate practice manual on building psychological capacity (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000482-000
  • Harris, J., Jin, J., Hoffman, S., Phan, S., Prout, T. A., Rousmaniere, T., & Vaz, A. (2023). Deliberate practice in multicultural therapy. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000357-000

Articles in Psychotherapy Bulletin

In 2026 I wrote two practice articles for Psychotherapy Bulletin, published by the Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy (APA Division 29). "Danger, Not Damage" describes how persistent pain and other physical symptoms can reflect a nervous system signaling danger, and it treats attachment as a threat-regulation system that is one contributor among many. It closes with a deliberate-practice exercise for clinicians. "The Myth of Monolithic Experience" argues that a therapist's ongoing curiosity and cultural humility matter more than a demographic match with the client, and it builds three skills from an exercise in Deliberate Practice in Multicultural Therapy.

Guest editing

In 2025 I was a guest coeditor of a special issue of the Journal of Psychology and Theology on psychology and theology in Asian American contexts. My coauthors and I wrote the issue's introduction.

Jin, J., ChenFeng, J., Dwiwardani, C., & Wang, D. C. (2025). The integration of psychology and theology within Asian American contexts. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 53(2), 111–118. https://doi.org/10.1177/00916471251329117

Interview

Paul Youngbin Kim interviewed me in February 2026 for his Psychology Today blog, Culture, Religion, and Psychology, about how chronic pain affects mood, thinking, relationships, identity and spiritual life. In the interview I argued for whole-person care: "Healing must be whole-person, addressing the mind and spirit alongside the body."

Kim, P. Y. (2026, February 3). Lower the emotional volume in chronic pain. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/culture-religion-and-psychology/202602/lower-the-emotional-volume-chronic-pain

Therapy online across Washington

In my practice, Jin Psychological Services, PLLC, I work with high-achieving professionals who live with chronic pain, migraine and chronic headache and stress-related physical symptoms. I see adults by secure video anywhere in Washington, and in person at my Lynnwood office on Fridays. My approach explains how I work in therapy. The practice is private pay, and current fees and session lengths are on the services and fees page. Physicians who want to refer a patient can start with information for referring clinicians.

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