William P. Russell, LCSW, LMFT, BCD

For over 40 years, Mr. Russell 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 the past twenty-six 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 of 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.  

Mr. Russell has given many presentations on his clinical interests, including recent talks at national and state-wide professional conferences on the training of marriage and family therapists, the treatment of veterans and their families, and Integrative Systemic Therapy (IST). He is lead author of the IST chapter in the 2016 Handbook of Family Therapy and co-author of the 2017 volume, Integrative Systemic Therapy: Metaframeworks for Problem Solving with Individuals, Couples, and Families. He has written a variety of chapters and articles on IST as well as other topics related to the practice of couple and family therapy. He has been named co-editor for The Family Institute’s Routledge book series.