Founded in 1960, the Ackerman Institute for the Family is one of the premier institutions for family therapy and one of the best-known and most highly regarded training facilities for family therapists in the United States. The Institute serves families from all walks of life at all stages of family life.
From Impasse to Intimacies: An Integrative Multicultural Framework for Couple Therapy
The workshop will prepare therapists to deal with many challenges involved in trying to help couples create and sustain intimacy over time.
Money and Meaning: An Exploration of One’s Money and Class Identity
This workshop will help therapists explore the beliefs we hold and the premises we have internalized around when and how we speak about money and how it relates to social standing, class and internalized feelings of superiority and inferiority.
Meeting the (Big) Challenges of “Blended Families”: Rupture and Resilience Up Close and Personal
Using case examples and clinical demonstration, therapists will take away immediately applicable tools for softening conflict, sowing realistic hope, providing evidence-based guidance, and forging connection.
Race and Identity: A Conversation for Professionals Working with Transracially Adoptive Families
In this panel conversation Kacy Ames, April Dinwoodie and Zoe Tarrant will discuss their perspectives and experiences around supporting families in navigating challenging conversations about beliefs regarding transracial adoption, privilege, race, racism, and identity development (of parents, children and the family identity).
Mindful Parenting
This workshop will look at the parenting relationship as the coming together of two individual systems living, breathing, and existing within a web of family, community and societal cultural influences.
Pathway to Promoting Cultural Sensitivity
This Alumni Lecture will provide an epistemological stance for how we view ourselves in the world and ourselves as therapists.
Directors: Catherine Lewis, LCSW and Andrea Blumenthal, LCSW
The Foster Care and Adoption Project (FCAP) integrates ideas from family therapy, interpersonal neurobiology, and trauma studies to develop a model of working with families and agency workers who are impacted by or who interact with families involved with foster care and adoption.
Directors: Silvia B. Espinal and Genoveva Garcia
The Latino Youth and Family Immigration Project (LYIP): Dímelo en Español provides a specialized framework of family therapy to First and Second generation Latino youth and their families. This project is led by family therapists Silvia B. Espinal, LCSW, and Genoveva Garcia, LCSW.
El Proyecto Juventud y la Familia Latina Inmigrante: Dímelo en Español.
Directors: Sarah Berland, LCSW and Courtney Zazzali, LCSW
Nearly seven million Americans are under some form of correctional supervision (incarceration, parole, probation). The JUSTICE Project provides therapeutic support to families involved with or impacted by the criminal justice system.
Director: Martha Edwards, PhD
Bright Beginnings is a theoretically based intervention for families making the transition to parenthood, consisting of group discussions and parent-child activities. Developed by Dr. Martha Edwards, it is designed to help parents promote their children’s social and emotional development and school readiness through a curriculum that includes a prenatal component for expectant mothers, a group component for parents with their infant or toddler, a video review component, and a home visiting component.
Director: Jean Malpas, LMHC, LMFT
The Gender and Family Project (GFP) empowers youth, families and communities by providing gender affirmative services, training and research. GFP promotes gender inclusivity as a form of social justice in all the systems involved in the life of the family. GFP is directed by Jean Malpas, LMHC, LMFT, who has trained and published nationally and internationally on issues of gender and sexuality.
The Ackerman Institute for the Family celebrates Black History Month. We honor the countless contributions people of African decent have made towards civil rights and social justice throughout history.
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