Her areas of specialization include false confessions, wrongful convictions, women in the criminal justice system, and trauma. She has given talks to professional groups on special issues facing women in the criminal justice system and is co-author of a chapter on special issues faced by incarcerated women in “Mental Health Assessment and Treatment in Jails” to be published by Oxford Press in the fall of 2022. She has over 17 years of experience working and training in forensic and correctional settings.
Jessica Pearson
Psy. D.
Dr. Jessica Pearson obtained her Psy.D. in clinical psychology from Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University and completed her internship and post-doctoral fellowships in clinical and forensic psychologist at NYU/ Bellevue Hospital. Over the past 9 years, she has served as the Director of Internship Training and Project Director on multiple HRSA grants at Elmhurst Hospital Center/ Mt Sinai, providing training, supervision, and administrative support for the internship program. She also served for eight years as the Senior Psychologist on the Women’s Forensic Unit, an inpatient psychiatric unit for female detainees under DOC and NYPD custody. She is an adjunct assistant professor in the Psychology Department of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at New York University, where she teaches two courses in the graduate program on forensic psychology. She worked as an attending psychologist on the forensic inpatient unit at Bellevue Hospital Center prior to working on the women’s forensic unit at Elmhurst Hospital. Dr. Pearson works as an independent expert in forensic psychology and psychological assessment, testifying in federal and state criminal, civil and immigration courts.
