About Me

James Robert Bitter, Ed.D., is Professor of Counseling and Human Services at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN.  He is a Diplomate in Adlerian Psychology (NASAP, 2002), and the former Editor of the Journal of Individual Psychology.

He has served as the President of the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology (NASAP).

Jim is the author or co-author of 4 books, including Adlerian Group Counseling and Therapy: Step-by-Step (2004); Contributions to Adlerian Psychology (2011); and The Theory and Practice of Family Therapy and Counseling (2nd ed., 2014)—as well as more than 100 journal articles, chapters, and video tapes.

He is the featured master therapist on the video for Adlerian family therapy on the Psychotherapy.net series Family Therapy with the Experts.

The American Counseling Association will publish Jim’s forthcoming book, The Theory and Practice of Couples and Family Counseling.

Jim was privileged to study, write, and work with Virginia Satir for more than ten years, and he has also studied with the master Gestalt therapists, Erv and Miriam Polster, and the founder of Narrative Therapy, Michael White. Starting with his early work at Idaho State University with Dr. Tom Edgar and later with his mentor, Dr. Manford Sontegard, Jim has participated in establishing and supporting five family education centers in the United States, and contributing to the development of another five throughout the world.