Dr. Kate Warner, Academic Program Director

Georgia Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and
AAMFT Approved Supervisor

Office
University Center, Rm 1145
(229) 293-6264
kwarner@valdosta.edu

Hello, my name is Kate Warner, and I direct the Masters of Marriage and Family Therapy Program. Before I arrived at VSU, I directed the Family Therapy program at Seton Hill College. I graduated from Kalamazoo College in Michigan with a major in Sociology and later competed my PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy at Nova Southeastern University in South Florida. I am an American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy Approved Supervisor and a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator. I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Florida and Georgia. In addition to my training in Marriage and Family Therapy and Family Mediation, I’ve spent time in private practice as well as working at a domestic assault shelter and in a home-based family preservation program.

My research interests include therapy with involuntary clients, the intersection of spirituality and family therapy, death and dying, and the use of therapy with children involved in the juvenile justice system—especially therapy that is provided by balanced and restorative justice programs. While I consider myself primarily a qualitative researcher, I am currently involved in two mixed methods research projects that focus on the juvenile justice system.

As a therapist, I am committed to non-pathologizing methods of therapeutic intervention. In fact, it was the non-pathologizing aspects of Family Therapy that drew me to the field. I don’t find labels useful, and I work hard to help my clients in ways that don’t leave them with a negative definition of themselves. I also work from a systemic/contextual perspective; meaning, that I believe all behavior makes sense in context. One of the things I love about family therapy is learning how each client’s perspective makes sense to them. In addition, I also consider myself to be a constructivist, which for me means that I expect each person to have a unique meaning system that I must understand before I can begin helping them find ways of changing that fit their worldview.

I teach several classes in the MFT program, including Practicum, Interventions in MFT, and Treatment Issues in MFT. All of the therapy ideas and interests I’ve described above inform my teaching.

Choosing a program that leads to a career as a clinician can be a confusing process. I would be glad to talk with you about a career in Marriage and Family Therapy.

In 2008, Dr. Warner was awarded the Valdosta State University Office of Equal Opportunity Programs and Multicultural Affairs First Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Distinguished Service Award. The award recognizes her outstanding work in the areas of racism, diversity, peace, and social justice.

Dr. Martha Laughlin, Director of Clinical Training

Georgia Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and
AAMFT Approved Supervisor

Office
University Center, Rm 1127
(229) 249-4961
mjlaughl@valdosta.edu

Hello. My name is Martha Laughlin. I’m an Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Training in the Family Therapy Program. I arrived at Valdosta State University in 2000 , coming from Florida where I received my degrees, conducted a 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, 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 “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.

Jennifer Lambert-Shute, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy

Ph.D., Marriage and Family Therapy, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

MA, Marriage and Family Therapy, Appalachian State University

Georgia Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

Office
University Center, Rm 1143
(229) 245-4323
jjshute@valdosta.edu

Hello. My name is Jennifer Lambert-Shute, and I am an associate professor in the Marriage and Family Therapy program. I came to Valdosta in 2004 from the University of Oregon, where I was an MFT instructor and clinical supervisor.

While in Oregon I worked as a therapist with Women's Care: Physicians & Surgeons, of Lane County Mental Health with children and adolescents, and as a therapist and supervisor for the center for family therapy. I received my doctorate from Virginia Tech in MFT, my masters from Appalachian State University in MFT, and my bachelors in Psychology from Western Illinois. I am a licensed MFT and am currently a clinical Member and a Supervisor in Training with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT).

My primary research interest focuses on issues in training marriage and family therapists. My master's thesis studied the stressors involved in MFT graduate training. My dissertation focused on successful strategies of non-sexual dual relationships between faculty and students in MFT programs.

My research has also focused on gerontology and marriage and family therapists working with older adults, incarceration and its impact on families, and exploring issues of obesity and family therapy. Obesity has reached epidemic status in the United Sates and many scientists are investigating ways to fight this disease. I feel strongly that the field of family therapy can make meaningful contributions to this investigation.

Additionally, I believe that if the field of marriage and family therapy is going to continue growing as a profession, therapists need to be involved in conducting effective research that can help move the field into the future.

As a researcher I am interested in finding the best methodology to answer our fields many questions. Thusly, I have embraced both qualitative and quantitative methods in my research.

As a therapist I am committed to exploring client's perspectives and understanding their context and how this connects to the presenting issues.

I use a strength basis perspective in working with clients and students. In training students to become therapists my goal is to help supervisees develop and clarify their own ideas of therapeutic change. An important aspect of my job is to help students clarify and form a theoretical framework to work with clients that is congruent with their epistemology.

Another area that I emphasize in working with students is the importance of using literature and research in our work as clinicians. As clinicians, I believe it is too easy to predominantly rely on intuition. While intuition and clinical judgment are important elements of our work, I try to encourage my supervisees to incorporate effectiveness research into their work. As a supervisor I focus on self of the therapist issues such as learning self-care and encouraging supervisees to develop strategies for preventing burnout.

As a faculty member in the Marriage and Family Therapy program, I am committed and passionate about working with students and training future therapists. The best part of my job is working and interacting with students. Therefore, I try to convey to our students that my door is always open. If you ever have any questions or would like to know more about our program please do not hesitate to call, email, or simply stop by.

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