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Michele Southworth, JD, LMFT

Senior Staff Therapist, University City, PA Office
215-382-6680 ext. 4113

Michele Southworth is a licensed marriage and family therapist and a licensed attorney. She specializes in working with motivated, thoughtful people who feel stuck in some important aspect of their lives and are ready to move forward in a way that is true to who they are, and to the values that matter to them.

She began her professional education at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and then practiced family law in Philadelphia for 10 years. Working with families in the legal system led to an interest in the then-emerging field of divorce mediation, and then to the study of marriage and family therapy at Marriage Council of Philadelphia. She has practiced in the dual fields of marriage and family therapy and divorce mediation as a member of the professional staff at Council for Relationships since 1989.

Her clinical practice encompasses a range of issues, including personal growth and development, gender-role and power conflicts, bereavement, and divorce-related issues, including divorce mediation. When working with divorcing and divorced families, she uniquely combines her two professions to serve as a therapist, or in the role of co-parenting counselor, mediator, or parenting coordinator. The focus of this work is on helping the family as a whole, as well as its individual members, to move through the divorce transition in a way that is as healthy and constructive as possible, and to move towards stability and well-being in the family's post-divorce life.

Ms. Southworth is on the faculty of the Council's training program for marriage and family therapists, where she teaches Family Law as well as the Adult Development and Families in Transition courses. In addition, she presents workshops and trainings locally on a variety of subjects. She is also involved in several interdisciplinary projects with legal and/or financial professionals who are pioneering new and cooperative approaches to the dilemmas of divorce. This work involves the development of innovative models to support the successful adaptation of all family members through the divorce transition, and has contributed to such new modalities as Collaborative Family Law, and Parent Coordination for high conflict parents.

Michele Southworth, JD, LMFT can be reached at 215-382-6680 ext. 4113.

Tip of the Week Article Written By Michele Southworth, JD, LMFT:

• Separation and Divorce