Douglas Flemons, Ph.D.
Director,
Brief Therapy Institute
Director, NSU Student Counseling
Professor
Department of Family
Therapy
Nova Southeastern University
Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences
3301 College Avenue
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33314
Phone: (954) 262-3012
Toll Free: 800-262-7978
Fax: (954) 262-3968
Email: douglas@nsu.nova.edu
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 Ch’uan 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 in SHSS, but his full-time position as director of NSU Student Counseling limits his time in the classroom. He gives talks and conducts workshops throughout North America and is author of three books—Completing Distinctions (Shambhala, 1991), Writing Between the Lines (W. W. Norton, 1998), and Of One Mind: The Logic of Hypnosis, the Practice of Therapy (W. W. Norton, 2002)—as well as numerous scholarly articles and book chapters. He is co-editor, with his wife and colleague, Dr. Shelley Green, of Quickies: The Handbook of Brief Sex Therapy (W.W. Norton, 2007). Douglas and Shelley also collaborate on parenting their two bright-eyed, funny, amazing children—Eric, 14, and Jenna, 9.
When he’s not administrating, writing, teaching, seeing clients, or hanging out with his family, Douglas can be found running, enjoying jazz, practicing Tai Chi, working out at the gym with his son, or coaching his daughter’s volleyball team.