Joyce Lynnette Hocker grew up in Texas and is a descendent of four generations of Texans on both sides. She obtained a PhD in communication from the University of Texas–Austin, and later received a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Montana. Her academic career as a communication studies professor brought her to Missoula, Montana in 1976, where she began her private practice in 1985. Hocker is the author of Interpersonal Conflict, a best-selling text used in more than 250 colleges and universities, now in its 10th edition. Now in semi-retirement, Joyce teaches in the Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Montana, and at Red Willow Learning Center, a nonprofit in Missoula, which supports resilience in people who suffer difficult life experiences. She lives with her husband, Gary Hawk, and their tuxedo cat, Lonestar.