About Us
Co-Founders Nancy Knudsen and Jack LaForte are a married couple who came together professionally to establish The Couple & Family Institute of New England (CFINE) in 2017 at a stage in their careers when giving back was of utmost importance. Both trained as family therapists in the 1980s, they are each committed to the value of seeing human beings in the context of their families and communities. Nancy Knudsen is the current Director of CFINE.
Meet Nancy
Nancy Knudsen, LMFT, is a Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice in Northampton, MA with nearly four decades of experience. She has used a family systems orientation over the years to work with individuals, couples, and families on a wide range of issues.
Over the past 15 years, Nancy’s primary clinical modality has been Emotionally Focused Therapy. She first became a certified EFT therapist in 2011, then a certified EFT Supervisor in 2014, and served as a founding member of the New England EFT Community. Nancy has taught a number of workshops on EFT for professionals and facilitated Hold Me Tight© workshops for couples over the course of ten years.
In order to enhance the unit on couples and sexuality, she co-created the Hold Me Tight©, Hold Me Just Right program with colleague Mike Moran. This program is soon to be available as a Facilitator Guide with accompanying videos on the ICEEFT website. Currently, Nancy’s clinical work is focused on offering couple therapy intensives to couples in crisis.
Nancy earned a master’s degree in Counseling and Consulting Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1984. From there she attended a two-year certificate program at the Kantor Family Institute in family therapy which emphasized a thorough knowledge base of each of the major family therapy models.
She developed an interest in family-related trauma in the 1990’s, and sought out training in EMDR in order to learn to address unspoken emotional states, completing EMDR training in 1997 and becoming an EMDR Institute Facilitator in 1999. To strengthen her background in family systems theory, Nancy attended a year long post-graduate program at the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family in 2008. She has been a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Massachusetts since 1991.
Additionally, she is a Past President of the Massachusetts Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor. She is Co-Founder and Director of the Couple and Family Institute of New England.
Contact Nancy: (413) 586-9424; email
Meet Jack
Jack LaForte, PhD, LMFT, has worked with literally thousands of clients during his career as a psychologist, licensed marriage and family therapist, life coach and consultant.
With over 40 years experience, he has developed an integrated client-focused approach which combines family systems, positive psychology, communications theory, cognitive behavioral therapy, and emotionally focused therapy. In his work he tries to engender trust, hope, openness, warmth, respect, and a sense of humor. In March, 2016, he had the honor of receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Massachusetts Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
Dr. LaForte earned his doctorate in counseling and consulting psychology in 1983 from the Union Institute. He is a licensed psychologist, a licensed marriage and family therapist and Past President of the Massachusetts Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. He received his Clinical Membership in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy in 1979 and became an Approved Supervisor in 1984.
In addition to his private practice Dr. LaForte has served as a consulting psychologist to mental health and social service agencies in the Pioneer Valley. He has supervised and trained marriage and family therapists, taught at the graduate level and lectured on various topics related to relationships systems. He has also authored two chapters on Emotional Triangles.
Dr. LaForte has been a member of the American Psychological Association, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, American Family Therapy Association, the Massachusetts Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and the Family Firm Institute.
Contact Jack: (413) 388-3595; email