Mark Sirkin

Dr. Sirkin has been helping modern families for over thirty years as a family therapist, writer, and consultant, as well as a trainer of family therapists. “I didn’t grow up wanting to be a family therapist,” Dr. Sirkin has said, “I really was most interested in helping children. But when I started to work with children individually in psychotherapy, I realized I didn’t have a chance: I got them for one hour per week, while the family had them for 167. I didn’t couldn’t effect real change unless I could somehow engage with the family.”

Family therapy was a new and exciting approach back in the 1970’s and I was lucky to work with some of the great founders in the field: Salvador Minuchin, Lyman Wynne, Duke Stanton, and many others. I developed some innovative techniques to work with diverse groups including cult members and their families, the urban poor, religious Jewish families, and family businesses. I have lectured and written widely on these and many other topics related to helping modern working families. Modern family therapy is distinct because it works with the individual in the context of the whole family system. Most often several members of a family are in the same room, but even individuals seeking treatment often carry the “baggage” of their family of origin with them, and individuals live and work in complex systems (families, schools, organizations, and communities). It is my focus on the system as a whole, and the individual’s role in it, both conscious and unconscious, that characterizes my work no matter who I am working with or in what context. It is this emphasis that enables me to work effectively with individuals, families, and even work groups in my consulting and therapy.

Career Highlights

• Graduated Boston University with majors in Psychology and Philosophy, 1977
• Graduated University of Connecticut with a Master’s and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, 1983, 1985
• Clinician and Researcher at the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, 1981-1986
• Faculty member in psychology or psychiatry at a number of universities in New York including Hunter College, University of Rochester Medical Center, Yeshiva University (Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology), New York University
• Currently, Dr. Sirkin is a member of the faculty at Mercy College and teaches in the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at the Master’s level.
• Published and/or presented dozens of articles featuring my clinical work and observations
• Joined several well-known consulting firms where I helped develop a systems approach to working with individuals in organizations
• Published The Secret Life of Corporations based on this innovative systems approach
• Worked with dozens of family businesses over the past 30 years, combining my family and organizational expertise
• CEO of New Chrysalis Communications,LLC, owner of ModernWorkingFamilies.com, an innovative web-based service for families around the world