William P. Russell is the Director of Faculty for the Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy (MSMFT) Program at Northwestern University and a Senior Staff Therapist at The Family Institute at Northwestern University. He is a Clinical Professor in the University’s Department of Psychology and a former Program Director of the MSMFT program.
He has taught and supervised family and couple therapy in several contexts, with past faculty appointments at The School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University, the Family Systems Program of the Institute for Juvenile Research, and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Mr. Russell has presented at national and state conferences on the training of marriage and family therapists, the treatment of veterans and their families and the practice of Integrative Systemic Therapy (IST). He is the first author of the book, Integrative Systemic Therapy in Practice: A Clinician’s Handbook and co-author of the volume, Integrative Systemic Therapy: Metaframeworks for Problem Solving with Individuals Couples and Families. These books have been translated into Mandarin for distribution in China. He has authored journal articles and book chapters on such topics as couple therapy, directives in therapy, supervision of systemic therapy, and the practice of IST. He is an Advisory Editor for Family Process Journal and co-editor of the Routledge Family Institute Book Series: Clinical Applications of Integrative Systemic Therapy.
Mr. Russell is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, a Board-Certified Diplomate in Clinical Social Work, and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor. For over 40 years, he has practiced systemic psychotherapy, developed and administered mental health service programs, and trained and supervised therapists. He has worked in academic institutions, community agencies, a private practice, a therapeutic school and the Veterans Administration. For over thirty years, Mr. Russell has worked at The Family Institute at Northwestern University, where he has held leadership positions (Director of Community Programs and Director of the Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy Program); taught and supervised graduate students; and conducted an active clinical practice. In his current role as Core Faculty Director of the MSMFT program, he participates in all aspects of program development and administration and sits on the admissions, curriculum, supervision and accreditation committees. As chair of the accreditation committee, he has successfully led three reaccreditation efforts on behalf of the MSMFT program and recently co-led a fourth.
- The development of a comprehensive, integrative perspective for systemic therapy
- Training of couples and family therapists
Veterans Administration, U.S. Government Contract Award 36C25221C0075 for External Clinical Consultant Services to Vet Center Program, 2021 - 2026.
Mr. Russell has published two books and numerous articles. He has also given many presentations for professional audiences. A few of his recent presentations and publications are listed below:
Select Publications:
Russell, W. P., Breunlin, D. C. & Sahebi, B. (2023). Integrative Systemic Therapy in Practice: A Clinician’s Handbook. New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis.
Russell, W. P., Breunlin, D. C. & Lofton, H. C. (2023). Integrative systemic therapy: A feedback-driven perspective. Fokus Pa Familien, 51 (4).
Breunlin, D. C., Russell, W. P., Chambers, A., & Solomon, A. (2022). Integrative Systemic Couple Therapy. In Snyder, D. & Lebow (Eds.) Handbook of Couple Therapy.
He, Y., Hardy, N. & Russell, W.P. (2021). Integrative Systemic Supervision: Promoting Supervisees’ Theoretical Integration in Systemic Therapy. Family Process, 61 (1).
Russell, W. P. & Breunlin, D. C. (2019). Transcending models and managing complexity: Suggestions from integrative systemic therapy. Family Process, 58 (3).
Pinsof, W. M., Breunlin, D. C., Russell, W. P., Lebow, J. L., Rampage, C., & Chambers, A. L. (2018). Integrative systemic therapy: Metaframeworks for problem solving with individuals, couples and families. Washington D.C.: APA Books, American Psychological Association.
Select Presentations:
Russell W. & Breunlin, D. (2023). Integrative Systemic Therapy. Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg. October 18, 2023.
Rastogi, M., Russell, W. Henry, R. & Sabey, A. (2023).
Healing the Healer: Therapists Seeking Mental Health Services. Systemic Family Therapy Conference, American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy. October 25, 2023.
Russell, W. P., Breunlin, D. C. & Sahebi, B. (2023). What to do when what you are doing is not working: Integrative systemic therapy. Illinois Affiliation of Marriage and Family Therapists (IAMFT), Semi-annual Conference. Evanston, Illinois. May 13, 2023.
Chambers, A., Russell, W. P., Breunlin, D. C., Lebow, J., & Sher, T. (2019). Navigating the complexity of couple therapy using integrative systemic therapy (IST). American Psychological Association (APA) Conference. Chicago, Illinois. August 10, 2019.
- Basic Concepts in Systems Therapy
- Special Problems and Populations
- Core Curriculum Lecture Series (Co-taught with other Senior Faculty)
- Family Systems Theory and the Educational Process I
- Family Systems Theory and the Educational Process II
- American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), Member, Judicial Committee, 2023-6
- Family Process Journal, Advisory Editor, 2022 – present
- The Routledge Family Institute Book Series: Clinical Applications of Integrative Systemic Therapy, Series Editor, 2018 – present.