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:

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.

Reports

Diversity Statement

The Ackerman Institute values diversity, equity, and inclusion and strives to have these values reflected in all operations of the Institute. We are committed to the recruitment, enrichment, and retention of clinicians and families who embody many perspectives and points of view. We strive to create and foster an atmosphere of openness where all dimensions of diversity, beliefs, and values can be explored and discussed. Our focus on providing high quality culturally sensitive services affirm the value and humanity of all people. The Ackerman Institute is committed to social justice.
 

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.

Read our full history…

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.