Degrees:

• Ph.D. Clinical Psychology, SUNY Albany;
• B.A. Psychology and English, SUNY Stony Brook

Biography:
Marsha Mirkin's primary scholarly interests involve the impact of social and political contexts (including race, gender, ethnicity, class, immigration status, and religion) on the psychological issues faced by individuals and families.

Her related focus is on family therapy including strengths and challenges of adolescence, couples' relationships and parenting. She has published five books including Psychotherapy with Women: Exploring Diverse Contexts and Identities (with Karen Suyemoto and Barbara Okun, Guilford Press), Women in Context: Toward a Feminist Reconstruction of Psychotherapy (Guilford Press), Social and Political Contexts of Family Therapy (Allyn and Bacon), Handbook of Adolescence and Family Therapy (with Stuart Koman, Allyn & Bacon) and, most recently, The Women who Danced by the Sea: Finding Ourselves in the Stories of our Biblical Foremothers (Monkfish Press). Her articles have appeared in journals such as Family Process, International Journal of Family Therapy, Journal of Clinical Child Psychology Behavior Analysis and Modification, and Journal of Feminist Family Therapy.

Prior to joining the faculty at Lasell University, Marsha Mirkin was a Resident Scholar at the Brandeis University Women's Studies Research Center. She has also been on the faculties of the Cambridge Hospital Couples and Family Training Program (Harvard Medical School), Jean Baker Miller Institute at Wellesley College Centers for Women, and Boston University Medical School. She also was the Director of Adolescent Psychotherapy at Charles River Hospital. She served on the Wellesley High School Council and was recently a manuscript reviewer for a Thompson Brooks/Cole text. She is currently on the Editorial Review Boards of the American Family Therapy Academy Monograph and the Journal of Feminist Family Therapy.

What do you like about teaching?
"At its best, education can be a transformative experience. When students take what they are reading in texts, grapple with the ideas in and outside of class, expand their own capacity to challenge and develop ideas, apply what they are learning in real-life situations, and further develop their ideas based on those applications, then I believe that they are having an exciting and successful educational experience that has implications well beyond their time at Lasell. Given Lasell's small class size, close knit community, and the host of internship and Connected Learning experiences, I am fortunate to have many opportunities to support my students in this active and engaged learning. It is a large part of what makes teaching so rewarding."