Project Director and TOGETHER Curriculum Co-Developer

Dr. Mariana Falconier is a Professor and Director of the Master's Program in Couple and Family Therapy in the Department of Family Science, School of Public Health at the University of Maryland, College Park. She completed her master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) and her doctoral degree in Family Studies at the Department of Family Science at the University of Maryland, College Park. Before joining the University of Maryland, she was an Associate Professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, serving first as Director of the Center for Family Services (2008-2016) and later as Director of the Master's Program in Marriage and Family Therapy (2017-2018). Dr. Falconier, originally from Argentina, began her work as a therapist with individuals, couples, and families in 1992.

She is a licensed marriage and family therapist in both states Maryland and Virginia and has been an approved supervisor by the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy since 2007. Dr. Falconier was also director of large outpatient mental health clinics such as WATS and Vesta,Inc. She has taught in several different universities nationally and internationally courses on multicultural and diversity issues in MFT, couple therapy, MFT theories and techniques, particularly postmodern approaches, and developmental psychology. Her research focuses on how couples cope with stress, primarily economic stress among low-income couples and immigration stress in Latinx couples. She has developed the evidence-based program TOGETHER , an interdisciplinary group program designed to help couples improve their communication, coping, and financial management skills. She has adapted the program to serve Latinx immigrant couples (JUNTOS en PAREJA) and LGBTQ+ relationships. Dr. Falconier has received over $11 million dollars in federal funding to implement the TOGETHER program and initially to evaluate it in a randomized controlled trial. Dr. Falconier has published and presented nationally and internationally and is the leading editor of the book Couples Coping with Stress: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, recipient of the 2018 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award. She is co-author with Dr. Norman Epstein of the recently published book Treatment Plans and Interventions in Couple Therapy- A Cognitive-Behavioral Approach.

Family Finance Expert and TOGETHER Curriculum Co-Developer

Dr. Jinhee Kim is Professor and Assistant Dean (Associate Director for the University of Maryland Extension) at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her main research areas are financial management, family well-being, and health outcomes.