Professional Organizations


American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) is the professional association for the field of marriage and family therapy. The AAMFT focuses on being involved with the problems, needs and changing patterns of couples and family relationships. The AAMFT provides individuals with the tools and resources they need to succeed as marriage and family therapists. The association facilitates research, theory development and education, and also develops standards for graduate education and training, clinical supervision, professional ethics and the clinical practice of marriage and family therapy. The AAMFT hosts an annual national training conference each fall as well as a week-long series of continuing education institutes in the summer. They publish the scholarly research periodical, the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, and a newsletter about the field in Family Therapy Magazine.


Council for Standards in Human Service Education
The Council for Standards in Human Services Education (CSHSE) is the only national level organization accrediting human service educational programs in the United States. Founded in 1979, over 60 colleges across the country have become CSHSE members. In addition to accreditation, human service college programs that join CSHSE accrue benefits such as marketing, technical assistance, and professional networking. CSHSE provides its members with a bulletin that is published twice a year. The bulletin cites innovations in human service education, discusses current human service issues, and profiles nationally known human service educators. The Council also distributes monographs that have covered topics like fieldwork placements, the history of human service education, and diversity in human services.


National Council on Family Relations
The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) provides a forum for family researchers, educators, and practitioners to share in the development and dissemination of knowledge about families and family relationships, establishes professional standards, and works to promote family well-being. NCFR publishes two scholarly journals, Family Relations and the Journal of Marriage and Family. The council sponsors an annual conference of juried cutting-edge research papers, methods, and practices which includes research updates for practitioners and awards for research and service. Additionally, NCFR (1) promotes family life education, sets criteria and guidelines for family life education curriculum, develops family life education publications and products, certifies family life educators; and (2) fosters dialogue among family professionals through interaction at the annual conference, state/regional affiliate councils, special interest sections, and focus groups. Networking and collaboration are actively pursued by NCFR members via the newsletter,NCFR Report, internet, listservs, discussion forums, task forces and committees.


National Organization for Human Services
The mission of the National Organization for Human Services is to foster excellence in human service delivery through education, scholarship, and practice. Members of NOHS are drawn from diverse educational and professional backgrounds such as corrections, mental health, childcare, social services, recreation, addictions, and gerontology. The organization provides a medium for cooperation and communication among human service organizations and individual practitioners, faculty, and students and sponsors national and area conferences, institutes, and symposia. NOHS also fosters excellence in teaching, research, and curriculum development for improving the education of human service delivery personnel. NOHS publications, a quarterly newsletter,The LINK, and a professional journal with an applied focus, Human Service Education, provide members with reviews of texts and research in the field as well as information about innovative courses and service delivery systems.

     
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