Marlene Watson, Ph.D., LMFT

Marlene F. Watson, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor and the Director of Graduate Programs in Couple and Family Therapy at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She is also a licensed marriage and family therapist. Dr. Watson received her Bachelor of Science Degree in psychology from Howard University, Master of Arts Degree in Psychology from Long Island University, Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Virginia Tech University, Certificate in Multiculturalism from the Multicultural Institute and George Washington University, and completed an internship in marriage and family therapy at Saint Albans Psychiatric Hospital in Radford, Virginia. Dr. Watson is Chair of the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education and on the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. She lectures nationally on issues of race, ethnicity, gender and class. Dr. Watson is a national leader in the field of family therapy and has been a local and
national voice to redirect the focus in education and practice on those socio-cultural forces that affect families’ lives. She has devoted much of her professional energies to establishing new and innovative programs. For example, she partnered with the City of Philadelphia’s Coordinating Office for Drug and Alcohol Abuse Programs to provide family therapy services to substance dependent clients both behind prison walls and in the community. This rewarding work was recognized in 1997 by the publication Utne
Reader who named her as one of ten most innovative therapists in the nation.