Biography

Sara Jordan is a licensed marriage and family therapist who serves as a professor, graduate coordinator, and program director with UNLV’s Couple and Family Therapy Program.

Jordan's research focuses on using solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) — which has been used to successfully treat many types of issues such as depression and anxiety — to help patients live their preferred lives despite the obstacles and challenges they face. She boasts more than 20 years of experience in this area, and her work on applying SFBT with substance abusers has been nationally recognized by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Health Services Administration’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices as well as the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Jordan has also influenced the use of SFBT worldwide, with her program being validated for use with Japanese and Turkish clinical populations.

A co-founding member of the International Microanalysis Associates, Jordan specializes in the systematic, moment-by-moment examination of specific observable behaviors in face-to-face dialogue, focusing on their immediate communicative functions. 

Jordan has received national and international recognition for her research efforts, is the former editor of the Journal of Solution Focused Practices, and is a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT).