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Dr. Martha Laughlin, Assistant Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy
Director of Clinical Training, MS in Marriage and Family Therapy
Ph.D. (Systemic Studies) Nova Southeastern University, 1998
mjlaughl@valdosta.edu
Office: 229) 249-4961
University Center: 1127
Hello. My name is Martha Laughlin. I’m an Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Training in the Family Therapy Program. I came to Valdosta State University 4 years ago from Florida where I received my degrees, conducted private practice, and worked as the director of a short-term crisis unit for people with acute and chronic mental illness. I have a Ph.D. and an M S. in Family Therapy from Nova Southeastern University and an MSW from Barry University.
My interests include Batesonian systems theory, writing as thinking, and qualitative research. But my first passion concerns the use of imagination and creativity in therapy and supervision and ideas about how to teach students to think creatively in family therapy. I believe creative thinking is an important facet of many fields, including family therapy. Cultural historian William Thompson suggested that creative imagination is the horizon of science itself and many important scientists, including Einstein himself, have acknowledged the vast importance of creativity in scientific work. What we know and what we imagine are the two sides of a coin: what we know shapes our imagination and our imagination shapes what (and how) we know. I believe that when therapists rely primarily on techniques that “work,” they narrow their ability to think creatively, and they reduce the effectiveness of their therapy. On the other hand, creative thinking in therapy cannot be an “anything goes.” My challenge is how to teach my family therapy students to think imaginatively about their clients from within the structure of a clear, theoretical framework.