About The Wissahickon Center for Relationship Therapy

The Wissahickon Center for Relationship Therapy was founded in 1996 with the vision of providing a wide variety of opportunities for individuals and families to grow, to heal, and to create lives that nurture the spirit and dreams of each family member. The Center specializes in Imago Relationship Therapy for individuals and couples and also offers individual and couples workshops, support groups and classes.

About the Director

Laura Marshall, LCSW, QCSW is the founder and director of the Wissahickon Center for Relationship Therapy. Her experience spans twenty years of service to families in the Delaware Valley. This experience includes serving as an advocate for women and children at the Women Against Abuse Shelter, as Director of Counseling Services for the Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County, as a therapist to sexual assault survivors at the Joseph J. Peters Institute, as therapist, speaker and workshop presenter for the Jewish Family and Children's Service of Philadelphia, and as the first Director of Jewish Family and Children's Service's Domestic Violence Prevention Program. She continues to serve as a consultant and guest speaker for Jewish Family and Children's Service's Family Life Education Program, and teaches classes for Chestnut Hill Hospital's Women's Center. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Oberlin College, and received her Masters in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania. She is the recipient of the Mazie F. Rappaport Award, and has published articles on the long term impact of child sexual abuse and on the efficacy of couples therapy in situations involving domestic violence and abuse. She is a Certified Imago Relationship Therapist, is a member of the Peace Project of Imago Relationships International, and is a level II trained EMDR therapist. She also serves on the Diversity Committee for the Board of Education of the North Penn School District. She lives in North Wales, Pennsylvania with her husband Steve and their blended family of five children, two cats and a dog.

Laura Speaks

The great composer Igor Stravinsky once said that, "in order to create there must be a dynamic force, and what force is more potent than love?" We all long for love, and yet all too often we find our dreams difficult to realize.

We live in times of tremendous transition. There is much that is wonderful, exciting and hopeful about the changes which scientific and technological advances have brought to our lives. There is also much that is confusing, frightening and destructive in this brave new world. There is no area of human experience in which both the hope and the destructive potential of these dramatic changes are so clear as in the quality of our relationships with each other.

The last twenty years have seen an explosion of interest in, and concern about, the quality of human relationships, providing us with a wealth of opportunities to learn and grow in this area. We have also seen a frightening rise in violence, abuse, addiction and divorce. We demand more from our intimate relationships than ever before at the same time that we face a loss of the very supports and resources that nurture and support successful families. For me this is both a profound challenge, and a wonderful opportunity. My passion for helping people to create healthy relationships comes, not from abstract academic interest, but from my personal experience in striving to create relationships that are healing and healthy in my own life. At times this journey has been difficult and painful. It has also been exciting and inspiring. The results have always been worth the effort. It is a journey I hope to travel my whole life; a journey I do not believe we can afford to desist from if we want to be fully alive. Know that the destination is always worth the effort.

The Tamil people of India have a proverb that I believe says it best: "Where love reigns the impossible may be attained." As we create loving, nurturing, passionate relationships in our own lives, the joy and healing that we find has the potential of enriching the lives of all whom we touch. Ultimately I believe that as we bring compassion and healing into our own lives, we bring peace into the world - that the work of building strong, healthy relationships is indeed the work of healing the world one couple at a time.

A Word About Our Name

The Wissahickon River winds through many miles of the Delaware Valley. Its waters nourish a rich environment of animal and plant life, providing those of us who live in it's watershed with a beautiful retreat from the stress and challenges of our lives. As the Wissahickon River nourishes the lives of all who visit it, it is our profound hope that the Wissahickon Center will nourish the souls of all who join us in the journey towards healing, wholeness and growth.

How to Find Us

Located in Montgomery County Pennsylvania near Philadelphia The Wissahickon Center's site in North Wales is near the townships of Lansdale, Montgomeryville, Fort Washington, Ambler, and Blue Bell. It is easily reached from such major highways as the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Route 476 (the Blue Route), and Routes 309, 73, 63 and 202 as well as by Septa (mass transit)." For specific directions from your location, please consult our Directions page.