Nedra Fetterman

Nedra Fetterman, Ph. D. is an Imago Therapist, Workshop Presenter, Clinical Instructor, and an Imago Advanced Clinician. She is a longtime associate in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine where she serves as a Clinical Instructor of Psychiatric Residents. She has maintained a private practice since 1982 working with adults, couples, families and adolescents.

I was anticipating the birth of our first child and I already felt protective. I did not want this new little person to experience the pain and disappointment that I had growing up in my family. So, one evening, in 1987, my partner and I, soon-to-be parents, confronted my parents in their living room. I said rather bravely, “I want you to clean up your act before this baby is born!” They were not pleased. My dad said, “I hear you. And, I forgive you. The hormones of pregnancy are making you crazy.” I don’t remember what my mother said. I do remember leaving in tears. And she remembers that I said, “You are in danger of losing your daughter!”

As a result of that conversation, my parents found their way to A Getting the Love You Want Workshop. They were the demonstration couple in front of 150 other couples in NYC. They had a dialogue about something they had been fighting over for fifteen years. With Harville Hendrix facilitating the two of them, and insisting that they truly listen to one another through an Imago Dialogue process, they never fought about that topic again and went on to re-invent their relationship in ways that were unimaginable back then.

Their commitment to one another and to the Imago processes as well as their natural warmth, humor and empathy touched so many lives. You see, my parents were professional psychotherapists and had the opportunity to study with Harville,

become certified Imago therapists, facilitators of the Workshop that they had attended in NY, faculty members of the Imago Therapy Institute and my mother became one of Harville and Helen’s original Master Trainers. As a young mother and beginning therapist myself, I was truly inspired by the transformation. Eventually, I studied Imago as well and all three generations of my family have been impacted by the relational principles and skills that Imago provides.

I am so grateful to my parents for “cleaning up their act” and for co-creating a second act that was dedicated to helping so many, including myself, learn how to create the life and love that they truly want! Imago Relationship Therapy launched me into a journey of discovery and helped me develop my clinical skills as well helped me recapture the joy of being fully alive.