Mission

The Family Therapy Clinic is the only systemic outpatient mental health center in the state of Rhode Island. It is affiliated with the University of Rhode Island as a teaching, training and research facility with specialized expertise in relationship and family issues.

The Family Therapy Clinic focuses on relational issues and offers the following counseling and prevention services:

• Couple/family therapy
• Parenting groups
• Pre-marital counseling 
• Separation/divorce counseling
• Step-family counseling
• Child play therapy
• Individual therapy

Couples, families and individuals in the URI, Rhode Island and nearby Connecticut communities are welcome to use the Clinic’s services.

The Family Therapy Clinic is dedicated to making treatment affordable. Therefore, fees are charged according to a sliding scale, based on income and number of people in the family.

Clinical faculty in URI’s accredited Marriage and Family Therapy master’s program include: Jerome Adams, Ph.D., Jacqueline A. Sparks, Ph.D., Tiffani S. Kisler, Ph.D., and Dale Blumen, M.S.

Confidential appointments can be made for day or evening hours Monday through Friday. Telephone the Clinic at 401-874-5956 or Dale Blumen, Clinic Coordinator, at 401-874-5551.

The Family Therapy Clinic is located on the ground floor of the Transition Center (corner of Lower College Road and Route 138).

See map

Prevention Services

Valentine’s Day "tune-ups." Offered the weekend closest to Valentine’s Day, this free service gives couples the opportunity to check out their communication styles, play the "Love Map" game and learn how to enhance the positives in their relationship.

Family Wellness: Survival Skills for Healthy Families. Attended by parents and children 6 and older, this interactive program is based on the idea that families want to be happy and work together. Participants learn how to build on family strengths as well as ways to enhance communication and problem-solving abilities.

Systematic Training for Effective Parenting groups teach parents ways to prevent discipline problems, gain skills for fostering cooperation and learn how to help their children develop postive self-esteem.

PREPARE is a premarital inventory and counseling program based on the idea that couples are more likely to have a successful marriage when they have explored both their relationship strengths and their grown areas before marriage. Couples also learn how to discuss and resolve conflicts and begin to articulate how they want their marriage to work.

Divorce Groups for children offer structured activities which help them express their emotions, learn coping skills, and obtain support from peers and counselors.

Stepfamily counseling can help in negotiating the unique tasks involved in forming a new family. Activities for strengthening stepfamilies are designed to connect members through playful, enjoyable experiences.

Child Play Therapy. Since children carry their own concerns, there are times when individual child therapy is appropriate, along with couple and family therapy.