[3] After an internship at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Johnson was one of the earliest members of the budding specialty of pediatric psychology.
[1] As a psychologist in private practice, Johnson had a clinical interest in the treatment of adolescent females.
[4] After learning that no woman had been president of the Massachusetts Psychological Association in almost 50 years, Johnson ran for and was elected to that office, beginning a two-year term in 1981.
[6] Johnson, who aligned with the biopsychosocial model, was APA president when the concept of health was first acknowledged in the association's mission statement.
Her last work, a historical novel titled An American Family Myth, was finished after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.