About the Ackerman Institute
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.
Mission
The Ackerman Institute’s mission is to provide:
- Innovative couple and family therapy services through its on-site Clinic (licensed by the State of New York Office of Mental Health).
- State-of-the-art training programs for mental health and other professionals on-site, in community settings and internationally.
- Cutting-edge research initiatives that focus on the development of new treatment models and training techniques.
Through this dynamic interaction of treatment, training and research, Ackerman helps families, serves mental health care professionals and brings innovative perspectives to a broad array of community service agencies and other health care facilities.
Diversity Statement
The Ackerman Institute is a major force in the field of family therapy, providing innovative clinical services, state-of-the-art training programs, cutting-edge research initiatives and professional leadership.
The Ackerman Institute for the Family was founded in 1960 by Dr. Nathan W. Ackerman. Although trained as a classical analyst, Dr. Ackerman broke with this approach after World War II when he began to experiment with seeing patients and their families in a group. He published, taught and showed movies demonstrating this new method, pioneering not only a new type of therapy, but also the tradition of the audiovisual documentation of clinical work that became one of the cornerstones of family therapy training. In 1960, a group of families treated by Dr. Ackerman established a non-profit institute to allow him to expand his training activities.
