Faculty
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Douglas Flemons, Ph.D.Professor of Family Therapy Phone: (954) 262-3012 |
When Douglas Flemons transferred to Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1976, he planned to continue the undergraduate work in psychology that he’d begun at the University of Calgary two years earlier. But he quickly realized that he wasn’t cut out to be a traditional social scientist. He started taking classes in modern poetry, Chinese philosophy, and communications, all of which turned him upside down, twisting his mind and awakening a fascination with language, the notions of Gregory Bateson, and the practices and ideas of Taoism and Zen.
While in Vancouver, he studied tai chi for nine years and, for five years, worked daily as a co-translator of an ancient Chinese manuscript. In 1981, he graduated from SFU with a Bachelors of General Studies. Failing to secure a job as a Chinese philosopher, he worked for five years as an independent video producer, directing and editing a variety of documentaries.
In 1984, Douglas returned to school, studying family therapy at the University of British Columbia. With a master’s degree in counseling psychology tucked into the back pocket of his jeans, he left for Lubbock, Texas, in late 1986 to work on his Ph.D. with the Batesonian scholar Brad Keeney at Texas Tech University. Keeney came to Nova University in 1988 to launch graduate training in family therapy, and, several months later, Douglas accepted an offer to transfer to the university here, where he completed his dissertation in 1989 and, several months later, was hired as an assistant professor.
Today, Douglas is Professor of Family Therapy, Clinical Professor of Family Medicine, and Co-Director of the NSU Office of Suicide and Violence Prevention. Author of books on writing (Writing Between the Lines), hypnosis and therapy (Of One Mind), psychotherapy and Eastern philosophy (Completing Distinctions), and suicide assessment (the forthcoming Therapeutic Suicide Assessment, co-authored with Dr. Len Gralnik), he is also co-editor, with his wife and colleague, Dr. Shelley Green, of a book on brief sex therapy (Quickies). Dr. Flemons maintains a private practice in Fort Lauderdale and presents widely on hypnosis, psychotherapy, sexuality, suicide, writing, and other topics.
When he’s not teaching, writing, seeing clients, or hanging out with his family, Douglas can be found learning jazz piano, practicing tai chi, running (often with Shelley and/or his daughter, Jenna), or working out at the gym (often with his son, Eric).