A marriage and family therapy counselor having a discussion with another adult.

Couple and Family Therapy Program News

The Couple and Family Therapy program resides in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV. Our program embraces diversity, ethical behavior, professionalism, personal identity, and self-awareness as part of our commitment to help students become skilled professionals.

Current Couple and Family Therapy Program News

The Las Vegas skyline (Josh Hawkins, UNLV).
Campus News |

A collection of news stories highlighting UNLV’s dedication to community and research.

Spooky season at UNLV (Becca Schwartz\UNLV).
Campus News |

A collection of news stories focused on research, expert insights, and academic achievement.

Students at Pida Plaza on the first day of classes (Josh Hawkins, UNLV).
Campus News |

A roundup of prominent news stories highlighting university pride, research, and community collaboration.

Graduation surprise
Campus News |

News stories from the summer featuring UNLV students and faculty.

UNLV letters surrounded by roses
Campus News |

A roundup of news stories highlighting UNLV faculty and students who made headlines locally, nationally, and globally.

woman posing
People |

Among her many titles — therapist, professor, director of UNLV's Couple and Family Therapy Program — Sara Jordan credits her mortician and EMT father for showing her a sense of humor is invaluable even in the most serious of careers.

Couple and Family Therapy Program In The News

Flair

Gaslighting is no longer a novelty, but there is now a new 'lighting' in the dating world: bluelighting. We already knew that the light from your television, smartphone or laptop is bad for your eyes, but your relationship can also suffer from all those screens. Glasses with a blue light filter won't help, but what will?

The Baltimore Sun

Small nuggets of advice can sometimes lead to big changes in relationships. My colleagues and I are fortunate to regularly interview psychotherapists, couples counselors, sex therapists and researchers who share their most useful tactics for strengthening connections.

KNPR News

Vegas is fast-paced, 24 hours, and places to meet can be pretty unconventional — we still have a transient population. Our economy means schedules don’t always match up. At the same time, many of us embrace the diversity of our population, we welcome the idiosyncrasies and differences. So given all of that, how do we make relationships work?

KNPR News

Vegas is fast-paced, 24 hours, and places to meet can be pretty unconventional — we still have a transient population. Our economy means schedules don’t always match up. At the same time, many of us embrace the diversity of our population, we welcome the idiosyncrasies and differences. So given all of that, how do we make relationships work?

La Tercera

Different investigations have warned that it can generate feelings of mistrust and withdrawal, among other negative effects. This is what you should know.

New York Times

Ignoring your partner to pay attention to your phone can lead to mistrust and rejection. We tell you how to stop practicing nagging.

Couple and Family Therapy Program Experts

An expert in solution-focused brief therapy, substance abuse, communication in psychotherapy, and microanalysis.
An expert on romantic relationships; parenting; and drug, alcohol, and gambling counseling.
An expert on the transition to parenthood, postpartum depression, infertility, and miscarriage.
An expert in infidelity, sex therapy, technology and relationships, and child and adolescent therapy.

Recent Couple and Family Therapy Program Accomplishments

Assistant professor Vaida Kazlauskaite (Couple and Family Therapy Program) and professor Tai Mendenhall (University of Minnesota, Department of Family Social Science) published "Providers working with parents who are diagnosed with cancer: education and role perceptions regarding communication efforts between parents and children" in Current…
Katherine Hertlein (Medicine) and Edwin Oh (Medicine and Sciences) are recipients of the 2022 Distinguished Barrick Scholar Award, given to senior faculty to honor excellence in research. Hertlein, a professor in the couple and family therapy program in the department of psychiatry and behavioral health, and Oh, associate professor of internal…
Katherine Hertlein (Couples and Family Therapy) has been named a Fulbright Scholar. The program director for the School of Medicine’s couple and family therapy program, Hertlein does research examining the effect of technology on human relationships. Her proposed research as a Fulbright Scholar includes collecting survey data on how people…
Michael Curtis, Brittney Farrow, and Melissa Yzaguirre (all Marriage and Family Therapy) all have been admitted to the 2017-18 Minority Fellowship Program of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. The program is dedicated to expanding the delivery of culturally competent mental health and substance abuse services to…
Katherine Hertlein and Gerald Weeks (both Marriage and Family Therapy) have won the Integrative Approaches to Sex Therapy Award from the American Association for Sexuality Counselors, Educators, and Therapists (AASECT). This award is for creative applications of an integrative and interactive approach to sexual issues in clinical work with…
Katherine Hertlein and Gerald Weeks (Marriage and Family Therapy), along with co-author Nancy Gambescia of Drexel University, are the 2017 recipients of the American Association for Sexuality Counselors, Educators, and Therapists Book Award for their book, A Clinician's Guide to Systemic Sex Therapy. This award is presented to the author(s)…