Christoffer Haugaard is a psychologist from Denmark who has worked with psychotherapy with a particular focus on psychosis for over 14 years. Between 2017 and 2023, he collaborated with David Epston to develop a co-research approach to voice-hearing, psychosis, and trauma, resulting in a series of publications. Christoffer presently works at a private psychiatric hospital in Denmark. He is the father of three children and enjoys Korean drama series and Ghibli films. haugaardch@aol.com
“Irene” is in her mid-thirties and grew up in a dysfunctional family with violence and incest. She was an active child who loved to spend time with her friends, climb trees and throw pebbles in the creek. She took loving care of her siblings from a young age. During a prolonged period of her life, she performed self-harm, attempted suicide many times, and was often hospitalized. This is no longer the case. She still enjoys spending time with friends and siblings. She loves being an aunt and is doing well despite the odds against her in life. The illustration is “Irene’s” painting of her childhood alter ego named Katja and the photo is Irene’s eye, that much of her image she was comfortable sharing.
David Epston was, along with his close friend, Michael White, one of the originators of what came to be known as “narrative therapy”(White and Epston(1990), Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends and Epston and White (1992), Experience, Contradiction, Narrative and Imagination. He has (co) authored 16 books, most recently Heath, Carlson and Epston(2022), Reimagining Narrative Therapy through Practice Stories and Autoethnography and Tejs Jorring with Alexander and Epston(2022), Narrative Psychiatry and Family Collaborations along with well over 150 published papers. He has taught widely throughout the world over the last 40 years and is co-leader of Apprenticeships in Narrative Artistry along with Tom Carlson and Kay Ingamells.
Cindy Silitsky, PhD, LMFT, is a published author and licensed marriage and family therapist in the state of Florida who has been practicing in the community in a small private practice setting for over 20 years. She specializes in couples therapy, grief and loss, and medical family therapy, with research interests that include gender in couples therapy, service learning, grief and loss, and the study of systems theory. She previously taught for 18 years as an Associate Professor and MFT Program Director at St. Thomas University, and currently teaches in the MFT program at Capella University. She has conducted trainings in the community related to mental health, co-worker relationship enhancement, work/life balance, and stress management.
Dr. Clair Mellenthin, PhD, LCSW, RPT-S, is an internationally recognized speaker, award-winning author, and a distinguished Registered Play Therapist Supervisor. She is the visionary behind Attachment Centered Play Therapy, a transformative approach that enhances the therapeutic experience for children, teens, and their families.
Clifton Mitchell, PhD travels the country providing seminars on effective methods for treating highly resistant clients. He is also an associate professor in East Tennessee State University's Counseling Department. He can be reached at (432) 439-4197.
Constance Ahrons is director of Divorce and Remarriage Consulting Associates in San Diego, California, as well as professor emerita and former director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Doctoral Training Program at the University of Southern California. An internationally renowned lecturer, consultant, and workshop leader, she is the author of The Good Divorce and co-author of Divorced Families.
Constance Scharf is the Dean of Students and a faculty member of the Ackerman Institute, as well as co-founder of Ackerman's Infertility Project. She has presented workshops on family therapy and infertility in the United States, Argentina and Hong Kong. With other members of the Infertility Project, she has published two articles in Family Process and a book, Couple Therapy for Infertility.
This Series features the following therapists in action:
Richard Stuart, DSW
Sue Johnson, EdD
Augustus Y. Napier, PhD
Pat Love, EdD
Richard Schwartz, PhD
James Coyne, PhD