Articles by Courtney Stivers, PhD

About Courtney Stivers, PhD (25 Articles)

Courtney Stivers, PhD, LMFT, is a subject matter expert in Marriage and Family Therapy. Her professional experience includes residential addiction, school-based therapy, community mental health, teaching, research, public speaking, professional consultation, and several administrative roles. She is currently the Executive Director of Summit Family Therapy in Peoria, IL. Please learn more on her practice website, https://summitfamilytherapy.com.

Thoughts on Marriage: Keeping It Together When You Have Little Kids

July 24, 2015 // 5 Comments

A few weeks ago, my husband pulled off a rather grand surprise. It was my birthday, and I knew something special was planned. He asked me to wear my favorite dress and even [...]

Up Close and Personal: How Much Should a Therapist Share With Clients?

July 21, 2015 // 12 Comments

There is quite a debate in the field of counseling right now about how personal to be with your clients. Should you share your own story? Should we share nothing about [...]

Contextual Family Therapy: Meet Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy

July 20, 2015 // 4 Comments

Creator of Contextual Therapy Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy, renowned psychiatrist and family therapist, is most well-known for being the creator of Contextual Therapy [...]

Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends: A Book Review

July 16, 2015 // 1 Comment

Michael White and David Epston published a book, in 1990, titled Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends. This book is a culmination of the therapeutic work of each of these [...]

Feminist Family Therapy (Part 4): The Invisible Web

July 14, 2015 // 1 Comment

Alright, this is my final post in this four part series. I hope you have enjoyed it or at least learned something new. Make sure to read my first, second, and third posts [...]

Feminist Family Therapy (Part 3): Names You Should Know

July 10, 2015 // 0 Comments

Building on my previous post, lets dig a bit deeper into psychotherapy and specifically contributors in the field of Marriage and Family Therapy. I hope you are still with me [...]

Feminist Family Therapy (Part 2): Core Assumptions

July 6, 2015 // 0 Comments

Now, continuing from my previous post, lets look at the core assumptions of Feminist Theory and see how they might relate to Marriage and Family Therapy. If you would like [...]

Gregory Bateson: Pioneer of Family Systems Theory

July 2, 2015 // 4 Comments

If you love theory, worldviews, or philosophy, this post is for you. Minuchin (1998) wrote that the field of marriage and family therapy was born from Bateson’s systems [...]

Feminist Family Therapy (Part 1): Do You Really Have to Hate Men?

June 27, 2015 // 0 Comments

When people (and this used to be me) hear the word feminism, many just cringe inside. We associate it with angry man hating terminally single ladies who live alone with a [...]

Do Marriage & Family Therapists Have Better Marriages?

June 16, 2015 // 15 Comments

Do Marriage and Family Therapists have a lower than average divorce rate? Have you ever wondered if there was a link between divorce rates and your profession? McCoy and [...]