How are sessions conducted?

You may have a single therapist, two therapists working together, or a team of therapists. If you have a consultation team, one therapist will be in the therapy room with you for each session, and your team will be working for you behind a one-way mirror.

What is a consultation team?

A consultation team is a team of therapist interns (no more than 6 individuals) and one licensed, credentialed, Ph.D. level faculty facilitator who work together as a team. They think together about your situation and the dilemma you're finding yourself in, and they work on your behalf to offer solutions as a team. You will have one or two therapists in the session room with you and the team and faculty facilitator are behind a one-way mirror, listening and thinking about the conversation you and the therapist(s) are having in the room. Family therapy training has been conducted this way for decades because it benefits both the client looking to solve a problem and the learning therapist, who is learning to give clients what they need. This "many-heads-are-better-than-one" has been found to be highly effective. Your therapist will likely tape the work that you do together so that he or she can watch the DVD later and think carefully about the work you did together, see if it is on track, if it might be improved, and what changes she needs to make to make the therapy better.

Who are our therapists?

All FamilyWorks therapists are graduate students in their second year of study in the Marriage and Family Therapy Program. Prior to being accepted into the program, all of our therapists go through a screening process. In addition, prior to being able to work with people, all our therapists have taken a Comprehensive Exam at the end of their first year of study that explores their personal trustworthiness, reliability, professionalism, self-responsibility, and openness to learning. During the time they are clinically active at FamilyWorks, therapists remain under the direct supervision of MFT Program faculty, who are experienced, Georgia state MFT licensed, qualified MFT supervisors.

Who are the clinical facilitators?

  • Martha Laughlin, Ph.D., LMFT
    MFT Program Director
  • Jennifer Lambert-Shute, Ph.D., LMFT
    Professor
  • Hoa Nguyen, Ph.D., LMFT
    Associate Professor
  • Jessica Millican, LMFT
    Clinical Coordinator
All of our clinic facilitators can be reached at (229) 219-1281. Please leave a message with the shift manager with your contact information and it will be given to the facilitator.