Jane Yank

Dr. Jane Redfield Yank is a licensed clinical social worker and licensed psychologist emerita in Minnesota with experience providing mental health assessments, therapy, and training in inpatient psychiatric hospitals, outpatient mental health clinics, a cancer center, and emergency departments in corporate, not-for-profit, county, and Federal agencies.

She was a Critical Incident Stress Debriefer for the US Postal Service and responded to critical injuries at postal facilities in the area. In addition, she coordinated the Circle of Wisdom Conference Series with Don Blackhawk (Ho-Chunk) to foster understanding of trauma in local Native American communities and expand culturally aware mental health services.

Her PhD studies involved research on cognitive stress where she developed a specialty in statistical modeling of handwriting movements under different conditions. She has taught courses in human development, introductory social work, research methods, and statistics.

Currently, she teaches research at Walden University to social work students and serves as a consultant to graduate students, advanced health providers, and researchers in developing research proposals and conducting statistical analyses. Her special research interests include the effect of stress on handwriting and the relationship of handwriting to cognitive development and emotional expression and regulation. Previously, she worked in business and has a unique perspective on the important role of businesses that provide services for their clients.

Having pursued a second master's degree in human development (St. Mary's University of Minnesota) after her MSSW (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and PhD (University of Minnesota) as a mid-career adult, she is interested in the challenges faced by non-traditional students and strategies that help them succeed.

Courses Taught

SOCW 6101 - Essentials of Social Work Practice

SOCW 6301 - Social Work Practice Research I

SOCW 6311 - Social Work Practice Research II

Education

MSSW (Master of Science, Social Work), University of Wisconsin-Madison

MA, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

PhD, University of Minnesota

Awards / Honors

Dissertation Fellowship, University of Minnesota, 2009

Publications

Yank, J. (1991). Handwriting variations in individuals with multiple personality disorder. Dissociation

Stoffregen, T. A., Giveans, M. R., Villard, S., Yank, J., Shockley, K. (2009). Interpersonal postural coordination on rigid and non-rigid surfaces. Motor Control

Presentations

Yank, J. R. (2009). Effect of displaced visual feedback on temporal coupling in a loop-drawing task. International Conference on Perception and Action