Dr. JoEllen Kennedy

Dr. JoEllen Kennedy is an Indiana-based therapist who brings 40 years of clinical practice to work with individuals, couples, families, and groups. She earned her Ph.D. at age 28 and pursued additional training to become an addictions expert, addressing both substance and behavioral forms of addiction alongside related concerns such as depression, stress, loss, and struggles with self-worth.

Her early career included work with families, couples, individuals, and groups on a wide range of issues from life adjustment to abuse, addiction, and trauma. She has collaborated with Superior Court Judges to evaluate cases and recommend courses of action for people who repeatedly appear in court, including matters involving visitation, custody, and parental rights.

In addition to clinical work, Dr. Kennedy is a tenured full professor who has taught undergraduates, graduate students, and practicing therapists at the university level. Throughout her career she has emphasized the value of learning new behaviors and reshaping core beliefs before crises emerge, believing that earlier change is often less painful and more sustainable than later intervention.

Dr. Kennedy holds Indiana licensure as both a clinical social worker and a marriage and family therapist and draws on a strengths-based approach that respects each person as the expert on their own life. She focuses on helping clients define goals, identify stressors, and increase life satisfaction, and she looks forward to supporting people as they work toward meaningful change.