Ackerman’s Core Curriculum: Alumni Insights & Clinical Examples

Curious about what it’s really like to train at Ackerman?

Join us for a dynamic, behind-the-scenes look at our Core Curriculum. In this live virtual information session, faculty and alumni will share candid reflections on their journey through Ackerman’s training, from transformative classroom experiences to real-world clinical practice.

Through a mix of panel discussion and mock clinical video, you’ll get a firsthand look at how the program deepens clinical insight, shapes the therapist’s work, and supports meaningful career growth in couple and family therapy.

This isn’t your average info session, it’s a chance to connect with the heart of the Ackerman experience.

Meet the Panelists:

Marlene F. Watson, Ph.D., LMFT is the Director of Training. She is the former Chair of the Couple and Family Therapy Department and Associate Professor Emerita in the Department of Counseling and Family Therapy at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She is a licensed couple and family therapist in private practice and the author of the book, Facing the Black Shadow. Dr. Watson is Past President of Family Process Institute’s (FPI) Board of Directors and has served on the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy (JMFT), Journal of Family Psychotherapy (JFP) and Journal of Black Sexuality and Relationships (JBSR). She is the former Chair of the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education and the first ever couple and family therapist to receive the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship where she served as a senior health advisor to United States Senator John D. Rockefeller IV. She is a former columnist for Heart & Soul magazine and the recipient of the American Family Therapy Academy’s (AFTA) 2009 Distinguished Contribution to Social Justice Award.

Catherine Lewis, LCSW, MS, is the Director of Ackerman’s Foster Care and Adoption Project. Ms. Lewis has extensive experience working with families who have experienced trauma and has served in leadership positions at several New York City social service agencies. She has presented nationally and internationally on the best practices of working with families. Ms. Lewis maintains a small private practice in New York City and Westport, Connecticut, working with families, couples, and children. Ms. Lewis is an active member of TEAM Westport, a town-appointed committee dedicated to improving diversity, equity and inclusion in the community.

Molly Bobek, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and family therapist. She supports the clinical components of Partnership to End Addiction’s research projects aiming to support the adoption and sustainability of family therapy for adolescent substance use. Molly is also on the faculty at the Ackerman Institute for the Family and maintains a private practice working with families, couples, and individuals.

Edgar A. Galvis, LCSW, is an English and Spanish speaking therapist and and serves as the Director of Clinical Services. With over a decade of experience, Mr. Galvis has helped New Yorkers reach their full potential in outpatient mental health, community, and instructional settings. His experience ranges from counseling couples, families, and children through a trauma-informed, relational-systemic approach to psychotherapy to training and developing other mental health practitioners in the field. He received his Master’s in Social Work from Columbia University and is a graduate of the Ackerman Institute for the Family’s Clinical Externship Program.

Jennifer Libert, LLB, LMSW, is a teaching fellow and graduate of Ackerman Institute’s Social Work and Diversity Program and post-graduate Clinical Externship Program. Jennifer holds a master’s degree in social work from NYU where she was a fellow of NYU’s Adaptive Leadership Institute promoting organizational and community change. She holds a history degree from Princeton. Alongside her family therapy training at Ackerman, Jennifer trained and worked as a Dialectical Behavioral Therapy practitioner and skills instructor in a NYC psychiatric outpatient clinic supporting adolescents and adults and their families. Jennifer approaches family therapy with a strengths-based, culturally sensitive lens.

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