Dr. Joan Muir of Jamaica has been honored with the Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her work in clinical psychology and family therapy. She is focused on helping those who are experiencing family conflicts and relationship breakdowns.

Dr. Muir attended St. Andrew High School in Jamaica and has been in practice for over 20 years. In addition to being licensed to practice in Florida, Dr. Muir holds certificates from the American Psychological Association and the Association of Black Psychologists.

She has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Fordham University, completed an internship at Yale University, and a post-doctoral fellowship in adolescent psychology at Columbia University. She began her career as a family therapy researcher and now develops family therapy programs worldwide. Dr. Muir is the Executive Director in the Brief Strategic Family Therapy® (BSFT®) Institute at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine. In addition to her clinical and research work, Dr. Muir is active in her community, serving as the National Secretary of the Association of Black Psychologists in 2016-2017, the president of the Florida Chapter of the Association of Black Psychologists from 2009 to 2010; Advisor of Youth Intervention Programs via the Thelma Gibson Health Initiative from 2009 to 2011; and as a member of the National Training Committee at the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network in 2000-2004.

With her appointment as Associate Director of the BSFT Institute in 2013, she expanded the distribution of the BSFT model in the United States and Europe. The intervention has been used to prevent placing of youth in juvenile justice and child welfare systems. She also developed an implementation model based on the clinical intervention to engage community organizations in effectively implementing the BSFT model.

The American publisher Marquis Who’s Who provides several directories that contain short biographies of individuals, including “Who’s Who in America,” Who’s Who of American Women, Who’s Who in Science and Engineering,” and other areas. The books are generally found in library reference sections and are used by universities in research. The company was founded in 1898, and the first edition contained biographies of over 8,500 “distinguished Americans.”

Upon receiving the award Dr. Muir said, “I am humbled and grateful to be listed among such a group of distinguished professionals.”

Photo Source: David Murphy