As I draft this final column of my term as your AAMFT president, I cannot help but reflect on the sense of wonder and awe of this uniquely historic year. It is almost cliché to keep highlighting the unprecedented times in which we are living. I say almost because it is true—and almost every day that point gets ever magnified. This year 2020 has been like no other. As the pandemic rages on, fires burn in the west, organized and amplified voices and demonstrations for racial justice persevere across our country, and it would appear we are stuck in a cycle of perpetual partisan gridlock. The outcome of the November presidential election doubtfully will shift those movements, as still it will be a long walk and hard work to an available vaccine, to sane policies for addressing climate change, needed reforms for meaningful racial reckoning and social and economic justice. It will require a long campaign of determined commitment and collective action to address the many challenges we face.
As I noted in my last column, I believe we are at a turning point. With anxiety running high at every level in our social systems—relational, family, community, healthcare, housing, economics, government and more—we the see evidence and know the risks of societal and organizational regression. There is no ‘going back’ as some may pine to recall. There is only forward. History shows it is precisely at times like these when the leading edge for change is glimpsed and catalyzed by well-differentiated Board leadership and vision and exemplary staff. The opportunity of these unique times calls for us to look boldly into this moment and to harness our strength and resources to turn hope into action and to make the world a better place.
I am immensely grateful to highlight the many ways in which AAMFT is rising to meet this moment in history. I believe that we are distinctively poised to further build on our strengths, concentrate our resources to further distinguish ourselves as an organization, and enhance integration of our programs and services to engage our members and best their member needs during these times of uncertainty and change.
A key future focused initiative currently in process is the work of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee. I think it is important for members to know we intentionally decelerated the pace of our work to absorb the gravity of so many challenging events—social, political, ecological, and personal—encircling us this summer. Our committee efforts will resume this month, and amid the final quarter of a year that seems relentless in its challenges. Along with our aims to represent a cogent statement of strategic priorities, we want to articulate a clear and resonant vision for AAMFT that our members can readily embrace, champion, and call to account. We will seek nimble and effective ways to engage the voices of the members and stakeholders to better know what success should look like. The aim will be bigger than our own success, and include ways that success can become life enhancing to the people and the communities we serve. In these days of increasing fraction and division, AAMFT stands committed and ready to become more inclusive in our systemic identities and advance the profession and the practice we were called to enter, serving our client families and communities.
I believe the uniqueness of this moment and our readiness to meet the future is also found in the results of our recent 2020 elections. The passage of the three bylaw amendments and newly elected officers and members to the Board of Directors and Elections Council is notable for several reasons. Our exemplary governance model and processes were long overdue to be modernized in the bylaw amendments. With the voting members turning out in record numbers—a 67% increase over last year—a clear supermajority to win passage of all three amendments was comfortably achieved. The first of these changes elevates the Clinical Fellow status to a designation and simplifies our membership categories. This change means that AAMFT can become a more open and inclusive professional home for like-minded systemic family therapists of various training origins, geographic and regulatory contexts, and it opens wider avenues than licensure to the Clinical Fellow Designation.
The second bylaw change further empowers the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) to determine the final number of members and service terms to support its mission and scope of accreditation. As the semi-autonomous component of AAMFT, this unique change allows the Commission more authority to determine the number of their own members, the skillset necessary to achieve their goals and strategies, and advance sustainability in support of its own mission.
The uniqueness in the passage of the third bylaw amendment is noted by the confidence and trust in the Board which the voting members have demonstrated. The passage of this amendment signals clear support for the AAMFT governance policies and processes. By separating the decision-making authority for AAMFT this change allows the Board of Directors to be nimbler, further fiduciarily duty bound, and thus better attuned with the ever changing regulatory and business environments. For nearly a decade, outside consultants and parliamentary reviews have consistently noted the need for these bylaw changes. This modernization of our bylaws helps bolster the overall effectiveness of our governance model and strengthens our unique position as the only national association advocating for and supporting the professional advancement of marriage and family therapy – including the practice, education, and training of systemic therapists at home and abroad.
Another noted uniqueness emerging from this 2020 election season is observed in the composition of the incoming Board of Directors. For the first time in history, the 2021 Executive Committee will be comprised of all women, and all master’s level clinicians—a more accurate sociodemographic reflection of the association. Also, it bears noting that the voting members elected AAMFT’s first Latino for President Elect. Moreover, the 2021 Board of Directors will comprise one of the most diverse Boards in recent record along a variety of characteristics. I want to extend hearty congratulations to all newly elected officers, Board, and Elections Council members. Also, I want to express deep appreciation and respect for those called to lead and who provide valued service to the association by the willingness to run.
We are at a pivotal time in AAMFT’s history. We will mark our 80-year anniversary of our founding in 2022. The lifecycle of our associations has ushered in a new era. The future is accelerated in these days of crisis and the reveal of so many unmet needs. For example, the healthcare disparities revealed in the U.S. in this pandemic have no doubt hastened our recent legislative advances for recognizing MFTs in Medicare. But one can also see on a global scale the enduring call for more systemic approaches to world health policy and healthcare. We are primed and ready to advance that call, because it is what we have been about since the inception of our organization—actively engaged to address the problems, needs and changing patterns of couples and family relationships.
This unique point in history is also our unique moment for AAMFT. To meet this moment—as evidenced by the At Home series, and the virtual Advanced Clinical Institutes, and the tremendous member engagement noted in the various Interest Networks—AAMFT aims to build meaningful bridges to better meet the needs of members and community stakeholders and to provide the tools, education, training, and research for culturally and contextually attuned systemic couple and family therapy across the globe. We are proven ready for this unique moment.
Before signing off, I want to express what a great privilege it has been to serve these past four years—nearly two years as AAMFT President. And I look forward to serving next year as Past President. I began my term of service with an expressed commitment to inclusion. It was through the synergism of an exceptionally diverse collective of systemic thinkers, theorists, researchers, and practitioners that planted their ideas to influence the ripe and fertile ground for this field. It has been a great pleasure to stand among those who stood on the shoulders of giants. I am proud of the 2020 voting members for making our tent big again and for holding open a door for our systemic minded professional kin who will meet the qualifications for Clinical Fellow Designation. I am excited we are at a new lifecycle stage for AAMFT. Not every professional association can claim that distinction. We have opened and advanced new future possibilities. Thank you for your support of the AAMFT Board. Most importantly, thank you for belonging in AAMFT. Please continue to stay MFT strong!
