Marlene Watson, Ph.D., LMFT

Marlene F. Watson, PhD, LMFT, is Director of Training at the Ackerman
Institute for the Family in New York, Clinical and Organizational
Consultant at the Eikenberg Institute for Relationships in New York,
Associate Professor Emerita in the Department of Counseling and Family Therapy at Drexel University in Philadelphia, and a licensed couple and family therapist. She was the first-ever couple and family therapist to receive the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship. Marlene is invited to speak to general and professional audiences around the country on issues of race, diversity, equity, and inclusion. She has designed and taught trainings on the race shadow throughout the country and is an effective public speaker. Marlene is Past President of the Family Process Institute Board of Directors, which oversees Family Process, the highest-ranked family therapy journal. As a member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, she chaired the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) and served on the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of Marriage and Family Therapy. She is also a former board member of the American Family Therapy Academy and recipient of its 2009 Distinguished Contribution to Social Justice award. She has been a columnist for Heart & Soul Magazine and is author of the 2013 book, Facing the Black Shadow.