For many years as community workers, educators, therapists and clergy we watched families struggle to solve their problems. We saw the need for simple, useful tools to help families work better. Taking from the best of social science and psychological research, we put together our ideas of the skills and patterns that consistently show up in healthy families. Our goal was to create a program that could be understood by families of various cultures, including those who might never seek family therapy. Family Wellness Associates is a minority owned partnership committed to providing skills and resources to individuals, couples, and families throughout the world.

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WHO WE ARE

Ana Morante, LMFT: Ana has been a partner since 2005 after a 12 year of association with Family Wellness as an Instructor and Trainer of instructors. Ana is a bilingual and bicultural exponent of Family Wellness.
As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, she maintains a private practice providing services to children, adolescents, and their families, dealing with issues such as child abuse or neglect, domestic violence, substance abuse, immigration and acculturation, etc. Ana has worked in numerous public and private settings including the Juvenile Dependency System and the Family Court System. Ana has also provided program and clinical supervision to trainees, interns and other mental health professionals. Ana has been married since 1994 and she is a mother and step-mother to three children. She is passionate about the Family Wellness principles and she uses them regularly in her personal and professional life.  She enjoys helping people not just to survive but to thrive and enjoy their relationships. Something that she learned from her mentor and founder of the program, George Doub, is to see the strength in people and to reflect it back to them.


Erin O. Simile, LMFT, CFLE: Erin has been a partner since 2005 after a16 year of association with Family Wellness as an Instructor and Trainer of instructors. As a therapist Erin maintains a private practice focused on therapeutic services to children and families with emphasis on families in crisis.
Erin has supervised MFT Interns and graduate students providing clinical counseling services in school based settings. Erin has also been a practicum clinical supervisor at Santa Clara University. Erin also contracts with the Dept. of Family & Children’s Services, Santa Clara County to provide on-going training and coaching of social workers providing parent education services throughout Santa Clara County and has conducted mandated family education classes for over 14 years. Erin and Mike live in Raleigh, NC.


Michael S. Simile: Mike has been a partner since 2005 after a 3 year of association with Family Wellness as an Instructor and Trainer of instructors. Mike has conducted mandated family education classes throughout Santa Clara county since 2000 and until he and Erin relocated to North Carolina. Mike currently maintains the Family Wellness web site and assists with the production and shipping of Family Wellness materials.

Together with George Doub, Mike founded Building Something Better, a series of comprehensive and effective workshops in communications strategy and project management. Mike also facilitates groups of company presidents that meet regularly to assist each other with management and business development issues.


Joseph L. Hernandez, Ph.D., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and a Marriage & Family Therapist who resides in California. He is a Partner and Trainer with Family Wellness Associates, an internationally known family education/enrichment program. He travels widely and speaks on matters related to healthy family functioning, including the role of men as leaders and mentors.

Dr. Hernandez has extensive experience helping families and individuals through crises and transitions, which he has done through his work in private practice, hospitals, clinics, and community non-profit agencies. As a Spanish-speaking therapist who treats people from various Latino cultures, Joe deals extensively with issues that Latino individuals and families confront.

Dr. Hernandez does forensic psychological evaluations and serves as an expert witness in diverse situations. For many years, he has taught as an adjunct instructor at the university level and has written on the Family Wellness model.

Dr. Hernandez earned a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology. He also earned an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University. His undergraduate work is in Pastoral Training and theology. Joe is married and identifies his favorite roles as husband, father, and (especially) grandfather.

Michelle Hernandez, M. A., is passionate about Family Wellness because of its strength-based approach. She enjoys helping people discover and develop their gifts and abilities. Michelle earned a Master of Arts degree from Santa Clara University in Counseling Psychology. She has been a certified Family Wellness instructor since 1996 and is now a Family Wellness Partner and Trainer. Michelle has a background as a Communications Director and has held leadership positions in Women’s, Children’s and Family Ministries. Michelle’s training as a psychotherapist and her interest in spiritual development make her a natural encourager. She uses this background in helping people build strong relationships. Michelle has been married to Joe since 1968. They cherish the time they have to enjoy their two active grand kids.

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