Marilyn Katell, PhD, LMFT
Dr. Marilyn Katell first recognized her ability to help others, as a University of Florida undergraduate. After training at the Gainesville Suicide and Crisis Intervention Center, she became a volunteer member of their care team. The care team, which was guided by a professional, personally responded to suicidal individuals.
Dr. Katell realized that her untrained intuition was only as valuable as her knowledge and experience. Therefore, she persued graduate studies at the University of Florida, where she was able to acquire developmental play therapy skills, working with children. After graduation with a master’s degree in Counselor Education, Dr. Katell worked at the Broward County Addiction Rehabilitation Center, developing and providing couples and parenting groups for recovering adult substance abusers, and their families. She also provided individual and family therapy for adolescent substance. To further enhance her skills, Dr. Katell then completed a three-year training program in marriage and family therapy at the Fort Lauderdale Samaritan Center. Upon completion of the program, Dr. Katell treated depression, anxiety, stress, among many other problems at the Family Service Agency, in Fort Lauderdale.
Prior to entering private practice, she earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Nova Southeastern University, to refine her skills further in the diagnosis and assessment. As part of her doctoral training, Dr. Katell completed an internship at the Louis B. Stokes VA hospital, in Cleveland, Ohio, where she dealt with issues of serious mental illness and chronic pain. A postdoctoral internship at South County Mental Health Center, where Dr. Katell treated both adults and youth, including individuals diagnosed with ADHD and Autism Spectrum disorder, motivated her to complete a training program in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), sponsored by the University of North Texas. Then, Dr. Katell obtained licensure, PhD, in psychology, as she had earlier gained licensure as a marriage and family therapist in Florida. Dr. Katell utilizes, for adults and couples, cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), as well as family systems therapy. She also gears these therapeutic styles to the adolescent. With children, Dr. Katell teaches coping skills via play and arts therapy, as well as utilizing applied behavior analysis, parenting education, and family therapy. She looks forward to being a resource for you.