Dr. Bill Pinsof
Founder & director, Pinsof family systems
Dr. William (Bill) M. Pinsof, Ph.D. LMFT, ABPP, founded Pinsof Family Systems in 2016 as a platform for his work as a family therapist and family enterprise consultant.
Bill is a licensed clinical psychologist and a licensed marriage and family therapist. He is a Diplomate in Family Psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology. He has been an Approved Supervisor of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy for over 20 years. Since coming to the Family Institute and Northwestern University in 1975, he has been a Northwestern faculty member in Psychiatry and Education. Most recently, he has been a Clinical Professor of Psychology since 2000.
Bill is a world-renowned teacher, theorist, writer, researcher, not-for-profit business leader, and one of the most experienced and credentialed therapists in practice today.
Background
Bill began his professional career in 1975 at the Family Institute and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer from 1986 until 2016. He led the Institute’s transformation from the Family Institute of Chicago to the Family Institute at Northwestern University in 1990 and built the Institute into one of the leading, university affiliated and free standing centers in the world for family therapy, family therapy research and the training of family therapists and family scholars. He has been a clinical professor at Northwestern University since the Institute became affiliated with the University in 1990.
Bill’s academic and intellectual work has focused on individual, couple and family therapy research. Over that last 20 years he has been focused on the use of scientific data to enhance practice. Bill and his colleagues at Northwestern and the Family Institute have develop the STIC evaluation and feedback system to help therapists and clients use quantitative data to inform and guide their therapy.
Additionally, since the early 1980s, Bill and his colleagues have been working on developing a comprehensive and integrated approach to psychotherapy that transcends specific models and helps clients change as quickly and effectively as possible. That work culminated in the American Psychological Association’s publication of their book, Integrative Systemic Therapy in 2017. Over the course of his career, Bill has published over 50 articles and chapters, edited three books and written two major books on integrative psychotherapy.
He received the Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Family Therapy Research Award from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy in 1996, the Distinguished Contribution to Family Therapy Theory and Practice Award from the American Family Therapy Academy in 2001, and the 2001 Family Psychologist of the Year from the American Psychological Association Division 43 - Family Psychology. In 2015, he received the award for his distinguished contribution to international family psychology from Division 43 of the APA. In 2016 Bill received a Presidential Citation of Recognition for his work in Family Psychology from the President of the American Psychological Association.