Faculty Profiles

David Van Dyke

David Van Dyke, Ph.D.

Marriage and Family Therapy Program Director, Associate Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy

On Faculty since 2012
630.752.5175
BGH M204

David.VanDyke@wheaton.edu

"We must learn to regard people less in light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer."
– Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"When two people relate to each other authentically and humanly, God is the electricity that surges between them."
– Martin Buber

It is within the context of relationship and community that we experience God. Many of us have difficulty focusing on our relational choice as an act of worship and not the behavior or ‘worthiness’ of the other. As a Marriage and Family Therapist, Dr. Van Dyke focuses on the relational dances we perform. Each individual is constantly imbedded in multiple contexts that provide possibilities and constraints. These mutual-influencing cycles between the individual and their contexts are the focus of Dr. Van Dyke’s teaching and scholarship.

His interests are adolescents and their families and integration of Christian faith and systems thinking. In addition to his teaching and scholarship, he has a small practice working with couples and families in Wheaton. In his personal time, he likes traveling with his family, kayaking with his wife and reading about history.

University of Georgia
Ph.D., Child & Family Development, 2000

Chicago Center for Family Health
Fellow, 2000

Fuller Theological Seminary
M.S., Marriage & Family Therapy, 1995

Wheaton College
B.A., Psychology, 1991

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
(Illinois), -- #166000545

AAMFT Approved Supervisor 2014-Present

  • Marriage & Family Counseling
  • Systems Thinking Models

Organizational Governance

  • Comission On Accreditation for Marriage & Family Therapy Education COAMFTE 
    • Commissioner on Accreditation (Elected), 2018-2021
    • Site Visitor, 2012-Present
  • Illinois Marriage and Family Therapy Licensing and Disciplinary 
    • Chairman, 2017-2020
    • Board Member, 2013-Present
  • Illinois Division of American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
    • Past-President, 2011
    • President 2008-2010

Professional Organization Memberships

  • American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, Clinical Fellow 2001-Present
  • Illinois Association of Marriage and Family Therapists 2001-2018
  • Illinois Affiliation of Marriage and Family Therapists, 2018-Present
  • Christian Association for Psychological Studies

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (Illinois) -- #166000545

AAMFT Clinical Fellow 2001-Present

AAMFT Approved Supervisor 2014-2019

Wheaton MFT Courses

  • Individual & Family Life Cycle Development
  • Clinical Pre-practicum and Practicum Seminars
  • Marriage and Family Therapy II: Systemic Assessment and Intervention
  • Integration Seminar: MFT and Christian Faith/Practice

 

Fulbright Scholar
Eszterházy Károly University, Eger, Hungary
Visiting Professor of Marriage & Family Therapy, Aug. 2018-Jan. 2019

The roots, branches and fruit of family therapy. 
Invited speaker: Roots Education Seminar, Beijing, China, 2019. 

Systemic supervision and isomorphic process. 
Invited speaker: 4th Annual Mental Health Advisory Group Conference, Prague, Czech Republic, 2019.

Marriage counseling for pastors. 
Refereed presentation: 5th Annual Hungarian Evangelical Leadership Forum, Harkány, Hungary, 2018.

Medical Family Therapy. 
Invited speaker: Semmelweis Egyetem Faculty of Psychology & Faculty of Medicine, Budapest, Hungary, 2018.

Parenting today's children: From discipline to relationship. 
Invited speaker: BisericaVia Baptist Church, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2018

Re-integration of Christianity & Systemic Thinking.
Refereed presentation: International Conference on Christian Mind in the Emerging World: Academic Faith Integration in Asian Context from a Global Perspective, Lumina College, Hong Kong, 2018. 

From reactivity to intentionality: Bowenian Family Therapy. 
Invited speaker: Instituto da Familia - Faculdade Teológica sul Americana, Londrina, Brazil, 2016.

Couple therapy: Strengthening intimate connections through vulnerability.
Invited speaker: Instituto da Familia, Londrina, Brazil, 2014

Neurobiological bases for working with children and families
70th AAMFT Conference, Forth Worth, TX, 2011

Dr. Van Dyke’s writing and scholarship interests also include integration of Christian faith and systemic thought, adolescent development and family functioning, and multiple family group interventions.

Editorial Work

Editorial/Manuscript reviewer, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 2004-Present

Editorial/Manuscript reviewer, The Practitioner Scholar: Journal of Counseling and Professional Psychology, 2012-2016

Journal Articles

Faith integration in marriage and family therapy education: A delphi study of the learning experiences of students enrolled in Christian-faith based MFT graduate programs, Manuscript submitted and under review. 
Johnson J., Van Dyke, D.J., & Yoo, H., 2020

Systemic critique of the DSM-5: A medical model for human problems and suffering, Journal of Psychology and Christianity
Van Dyke, D.J., & Hovis, R., 2014

The impact of a digital recorder intervention in pragmatic/experiential therapy for couples: A pilot study to access emotional flooding, Contemporary Family Therapy. 
Low, R.K., Van Dyke, D.J., & Brown, L., 2013

Family systems and developmental psychopathology, Christianity and developmental psychopathology: Theory and application for working with youth
Rueger, S., & Van Dyke, D.J., 2014

Book Chapters

Re-integrating Christianity & Systemic Theory, in W.T. Leung, P. Ng, & V. Mak (Eds.) Christian mind in the emerging world: Academic faith integration in Asian contexts from a global perspective, Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Van Dyke, D.J., & Pyykkonen, B.A., 2018

Family systems theory and therapy, in S. Jones & R. Butman (Eds.) Modern psychotherapies: A comprehensive christian appraisal, IPV Academic.
Van Dyke, D.J., Jones, S.L., & Butman, R.E., 2011

Family interview of an individual, in R.J. Craig (Ed.) Clinical and diagnostic interviewing (2nd Ed.), Jason Aronson. 
Van Dyke, D.J. (2004).