Kendra Doychak

Dr. Kendra Doychak is a Doctoral Lecturer in the Psychology Department and Director of the MA Program in Forensic Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY. She holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from John Jay College and the CUNY Graduate Center (2022), an MA in Forensic Mental Health Counseling (2016), and a BA in Psychology, Politics, and Legal Studies from Ithaca College (2013).

Her research focuses on criminalization of victimhood, particularly gender-based violence, complex trauma, and coercive control dynamics in contexts like commercial sex exploitation, intimate partner violence (IPV), and cults. She examines trauma-coerced attachment—a dissociative phenomenon resulting from prolonged coercive control—and its legal implications. Her work influences expert testimony, DOJ cases, and amici curiae. Current projects explore coercive control in LGBTQ+ populations and cult dynamics.

Dr. Doychak is a licensed clinical psychologist with a part-time private practice in psychodynamic therapy and forensic assessments. She has worked in forensic agencies, public hospitals, trauma organizations, and psychoanalytic institutes. Her clinical internship was at Elmhurst Hospital Center, NYC Health + Hospitals.

Her teaching includes courses on mental health and law, family violence, counseling methods, and forensic fieldwork. Her research emphasizes sociocultural and political factors in trauma, with recent studies on linguistic indicators of coercion and functional isolation in trafficking survivors.