The Family Institute at Northwestern University
Partner to see change
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
The Family Institute at Northwestern University
Founded in 1968 under the leadership of Charles H. Kramer, MD, The Family Institute began as a study group of Chicago-area psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers who explored family therapy, an innovative type of mental health treatment. The group established the not-for-profit Family Institute of Chicago in 1968.
In the 50+ years since our founding, The Family Institute has expanded its programming to respond to the needs of underserved communities and the evolving nature of mental health treatment. The Family Institute has offices in downtown Chicago, Evanston and suburban Cook County, but conducts the large majority of Clinic sessions via teletherapy. As an affiliate of Northwestern University, The Family Institute is a unique, innovative not-for-profit organization, governed by its own independent Board of Directors and responsible for its own funding.
Clinical Service
The Family Institute is deeply committed to our mission of strengthening and healing families from all walks of life. In addition to our nationally renowned staff practice that serves nearly 75,000 people annually, we are committed to ensuring that everyone has access to mental health services through the free therapy offered by our Bette D. Harris Family & Child Clinic.
Graduate Education
The Family Institute is committed to educating and training the next generation of mental health practitioners through our two education programs: Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology and Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy. We also offer a newly launched online Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy to complement our in-person programming.
Research
The Family Institute is committed to conducting cutting-edge, innovative research projects to help discover how people actually change in therapy and what therapists do to facilitate that change. The primary lab for our research at The Family Institute is our Couple & Family Development Research Lab, which aims to understand and improve the developmental course of couple and family functioning. We are conducting our first pilot study testing this novel prevention program in which couples are administered the Relationship Quality Interview (RQI), given feedback on their strength and limitation, offered group skills workshops relevant to their specific needs, and then followed longitudinally to assess outcomes. The goal is to partner with community agencies in Chicago to offer the program to low-income and underserved families.
Where we work
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Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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The Family Institute at Northwestern University
Board of directorsas of 04/20/2023
Katie Lamb-Heinz
E.T. Franklin
Leslie Barker
Civic Volunteer
Esther Franklin
Starcom MediaVest Group
Viviana Ploper
Counseling Centers of Chicago
Michele Rogers
Northwestern University
Horace Smith II, MD
Children's Memorial Hospital
Michael Stelmacki
Gofen & Glossberg, LLC
Pamela Szokol
Civic Volunteer
Julian Coleman, Jr.
Horwich Coleman Levin LLC
Katie Lamb-Heinz
Jana L Jones
The Family Institute at Northwestern University
Kevin Gates
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Deborah Youderian
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Kathleen Sullivan
Ana R. Bugan
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Susan Canmann
Lauren Elrod
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Louis Fogel
Jenner & Block LLP
Amy Gray
Roxanne Hori
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Marjorie Cowan Rallins
Regenstrief Institute
Laura E. Sachs
Antonia Warren
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Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? No -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data