NOTEWORTHY

AAMFT Foundation Awardee Spotlight

 

The AAMFT Foundation can improve outcomes by supporting the groundbreaking work of licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFTs). One of the ways we do this, is through our awards program. To support future awards, consider a charitable gift.

Today, we are highlighting a past awardee: Aimee Hubbard, MS, PhD, PLMFT

Foundation: Which award did you win and in what year?

Hubbard: 2020 Graduate Student Research Award

Foundation: Who nominated you for the award?

Hubbard: My advisor, Dr. Steven Harris, from the University of Minnesota

Foundation: Please describe your work and the reasons why you won your award.

Hubbard: My research has focused on understanding the couple help-seeking process, with my dissertation focusing on African Americans’ experiences and perceptions of couple therapy. My research was able to identify unique barriers that African American couples face in the couple help-seeking process. Identifying and then addressing these barriers is central to increasing access to couple services and addressing relational health disparities.

Foundation: What was your award experience like?  

Hubbard: My award experience was non-traditional as I won my award during the pandemic. Even without the award or ceremony, it was significant to me that AAMFT recognized the importance of my research and the quality of my work.

Foundation: Tell us a bit about your work since winning the award.

Hubbard: Since winning the award, I have graduated from my doctoral program at the University of Minnesota. After graduating, I started working at the Kansas City Relationship Institute (KCRI) in Independence, MO. My clinical and research work has always focused on couples; so, I was excited to have the chance to work at a practice where they are not only helping couples rebuild and enlivening their relationships, but also training clinicians to be proficient in their relational work. Now that I am settled in my new home state, I am beginning work with KCRI to look at innovative ways of engaging and helping couples, especially couples from historically marginalized groups. I am also currently working on getting my dissertation published.

Foundation: Why should the Foundation continue our Awards program?

Hubbard: I believe the foundation should continue their award programs. The funding I received helped me pay a research assistant and ensured participants were fairly compensated. Awards are essential for PhD students. They enable students to move beyond completing a dissertation to collecting meaningful data that can help launch their careers. Without awards or other funding, students can end up reliant on secondary data, which limits their research questions. It can also create a reliance on voluntary participants, which creates bias within the data.

You can support future award winners like Dr. Hubbard with your tax-deductible gift to the AAMFT Research & Education Foundation today!

Dr. Hubbard is a licensed therapist at Kansas City Relationship Institute.

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