I have had the pleasure and the privilege of working on behalf of people and their relationships for 50 years. From this perspective, let me tell you a bit about how I see therapy. Asking for help, takes courage and a sense of caring for your self. When I am with you in my office, I am aware that you come risking the possibility of being seen, or not; and accepted, or not. How you experience my presence and receptivity to you makes a difference in the level of safety you need in order to reveal deeper and truer messages to your self about your life, i.e. where you are now, where you have come from and most importantly where and how you want to move forward.
My intent is to interact with you congruently, experiencing simultaneously your universal humanness and your uniqueness. In doing so, I want to affirm and validate the commitment you have for greater wholeness in your life. My expectation is that your work with me will result in your making greater use of your vast personal resources in ways that work to improve your health, relationships and your performance.
I bring my dog, Rusty to work with me most days. He is a 5-year-old brown rescue dog of about 50 pounds. He understands his job is to be present with a willingness to be ignored and receptivity to being petted. He often prefers to sleep rather than interact. He is full of good will and a master at living in the moment. He has taught me patience, sensitivity and the value of sweetness and innocence for which I am grateful.
Jean McLendon, LCSW, LMFT and AAMFT approved supervisor maintains an active multi-service private practice in Chapel Hill, N.C. Mentored nearly 20 years by the late Virginia Satir, renowned educator-author and family systems therapist, Jean is known as one of the world’s foremost practitioners of Satir's methods. When Satir became ill, she requested Jean direct her International Colorado Summer Module I Process Community Institute. Of Jean’s work, Satir once wrote: "Jean has that rare capacity to be able to sit in the airport control tower and, at the same time, be aware of all the planes in her vision and be able to help them find out about themselves and their relationship to each other. Jean travels widely applying the Satir Growth Model to a variety of contexts, situations, countries and cultures.
She is a recent past President of The Virginia Satir Global Network, formerly Avanta, founding board member of The Avanta Network and founding Director of the Satir Institute of The Southeast. Jean is a Satir Global ‘Living Treasure’ and a North Carolina AAMFT ‘Champion of the Family’. She is featured in the professional video series “Family Therapy with the Experts”. She has served on the faculties of the University of North Carolina School of Social Work, and The NIMH Staff College and served as faculty specialist with the Whole Systems Design Graduate Program at Seattle University.
In her consulting practice, Jean works with leaders and teams in family owned businesses; high-tech and fast-growing businesses; large well-established insurance and finance companies; hospitals; state and federal governmental agencies; manufacturing companies; and educational institutions. She is regularly engaged by businesses to consult on matters of team and leadership development, succession planning, conflict resolution, transition and change management.
In her psychotherapy practice, she works with individual, couples and families and supervises other therapists. Her delight is in assisting her clients into a stronger and clearer awareness of their roots and resources. She works with precision, perspective and a sense of humor about the entangled knots that emerge in signifigant relationships. Her compassion and patience with those going through the chaos of change are core to her way of being.
Jean believes that when self or system esteem is increased, so are the health, relationships and performance of individuals, families and organizations. Her ability to understand universal human needs and vulnerabilities and her belief in the resourcefulness of all people has enabled her to be an effective agent for planned change in systems of all kinds and sizes.
Interviews:
Journal of Couples Therapy interview, Vol 9, Nos 3/4, 2000
userfiles/1932067/file/Nature%20of%20Personhood.pdf
WCHL interview, March 5, 2011:
http://chapelboro.com/wchl/lifestyle-weekly/art-of-potential/march-5-2011-2/
WCHL interview, December 28,2013 :
The holidays are a time filled with joy, peace, and …. of course, family. Sometimes said ‘family’ doesn’t evoke the joyful exuberance we sing about in Christmas carols and instead, leaves us wanting to hurt someone. When this happens it is time to listen to the wise, wonderful, and world renowned Jean McLendon of Satir Systems. Jean delivers practical strategies for coping with drunk Aunt Suzie and other obnoxious family members.
Podcast: Art of Potential - Jean McLendon
Pychotherapy.net interview, 2013:
Jean McLendonon the Legacy of Virginia Satir
http://www.psychotherapy.net/interview/mclendon-on-satir-interview
Additional Experience:
- Director of Curriculum Development and Training UNC Satir School of Social Work
- Director of Training Programs and Approved Supervisor, Satir Institute of Chapel Hill, NC
- Director of the nationally recognized Chapel Hill-based Satir Systems Training Programs, affiliated with The Satir Institute of the Southeast, Inc. an affiliate of The Virginia Satir Global Network.
- Co-designer and presenter with Gerald and Dani Weinberg for the internationally acclaimed 7-day Congruent Leadership Workshop.
- Satir Master Trainer with Banmen and Gomori for 10-day Satir Legacy Program in British Columbia.
- Consultant to Family Business Institute.
- International presenter on the topics of organizational consulting and psychotherapy including Keynote Presenter at the 2002 Annual Conference of the American Academy of Psychotherapists.
- Trainer and therapist to New Orleans Week Long Family Camp
- Coordinator of Children and Family Services, Alamance - Caswell County Mental Health Services.
- Coordinator of Adult Services for Alamance - Caswell County Mental Health Services
- Coordinator of Consultation, Education and Prevention, Alamance - Caswell County Mental Health Services.
International Satir Training:
• Czechoslovakia, Lithuania, Hong Kong, Bejing, China, Cairo, Az'erbajain, Tajkistan, Thailand, Sweden and Singapore
Publications:
"Choosing A Consulting Role." David Kiel and Jean McLendon, Training and Development Journal, February, 1990.
“Satir Approaches to Organizational Development.” A Paper to Accompany the Pre-Conference Institute at the 75th Anniversary of Virginia Satir Conference: Through the Family and Beyond: Full Esteem Ahead. Jean McLendon. and David H. Kiel, August 7, 1991.
"Satir System Consulting: Internal Barriers to Consultant's Relationship with Client." Jean McLendon. Issue, 06/01/92, Anchor Point, 1992.
“ A Satir Model for Multicultural Peace.” Pat Callair and Jean McLendon, The Promise of Diversity: Over 40 Voices Discuss Strategies for Eliminating Discrimination in Organizations . eds. Elsie Y. Cross, Katz, Miller & Seashore. The National Training Laboratories, Irwin Professional Publishing, 1994.
"Beyond Blaming: Congruence in Large Systems Development Projects." Jean McLendon and Gerald M. Weinberg. The IEEE Computer Society , The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., July 1996.
"The Tao of Communication and the Constancy of Change." Jean McLendon. Couples and the Tao of Congruence . Haworth Press, Inc., Binghamton, NY, 1996.
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“Healing the Ailing Workplace.” Jean McLendon. IEEE Software Journal. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., May/June, 1998.
“A Three Day Satir Workshop in Cairo, Egypt.” Jean McLendon, Connections Newsletter, Vol. 1, Number 1, Satir Institute of the Southeast, Inc., Fall 1998.
“The Internal Dialogue in the Consulting Process.” Jean McLendon, 1998.
"Satir Therapy with Jean McLendon." Family Therapy with the Experts . DVD Series hosted by Dr. Jon Carlson and Dr. Diane Kjos. Produced by Tony Labriola. Longwood/Allyn & Bacon, MA, 1999.
"The Satir System in Action." Jean McLendon. Beyond Talk Therapy: Using Movement and Expressive Techniques in Clinical Practice , ed. Daniel J. Wiener. APA Books, Washington, DC, 1999.
"The Satir System: Brief Therapy Strategies." Jean McLendon. Brief Therapy Strategies with Individuals and Couples . eds. Jon Carlson, Psy.D., Ed.D. & Len Sperry, M.D. Zeig/Tucker & Co., Inc., CT, 2000.
“The Satir System in 7 A’s.” Jean McLendon. Satir Systems Reader, 2000.
“Starting from Within, Here and Now.” Jean McLendon. Virginia Satir: Her Life & Circle of Influence, eds. Mel Suhd, Laura Dodson, & Maria Gomori. Science and Behavior Books, Palo Alto, CA, 2000.
"The Satir System." Jean McLendon and Bill Davis. Theories and Strategies of Family Therapy , eds. Dr. Jon Carlson & Dr. Diane Kjos. Allyn & Bacon/ A Pearson Education Company, Boston MA, 2002.
AAMFT Supervision Philosophy, 2003.
“A Path to Wholeness: Couple Therapy Within the Satir Model.” Jean McLendon and James R. Bitter. Case Studies in Couples Therapy: Therapy-Based Solutions. eds. David K. Carson & Montserrat Casado-Kehoe. Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group, New York, NY, 2011.
"Satir Growth Model." Jean McLendon and Michael D. Reiter. Case Conceptualization in Family Therapy. Michael D. Reiter. Pearson Education, Inc., Boston, MA, 2014.
Education:
- Winthrop College, BS
- University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine, MSW
- University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Community Psychiatry Division, Mental Health Administration Certification
