AAMFT Conference 2012

This year the annual American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy conference was held in Charlotte, North Carolina! Several faculty and a few second-year students were able to travel and experience the conference and all it had to offer. In addition, Dr. Sara Blakeslee, Dr. Jaime Goff, Austin Brown, and Priscilla Griffin presented a poster about the Efficacy of EFT-Based Relationship Enrichment. In order to hear a little more about the trip, Amy Passmore and Kendra Arsenault were kind enough to write about their experiences.

“I really enjoyed the conference.  There was a wide offering of breakout sessions to attend (much more than at the state conference) on topics such as hoarding, eating disorders in adolescence, incorporating exercise into therapy, and more. It was energizing to see so many professionals in our field coming together to learn about new techniques and research.  I left with a lot of helpful information for treating varied types of clients and creative ideas for implementing new interventions.” -Amy Passmore

“Going to conference was very educational. I went to several different break-out sessions that really impressed me. I went to a session on eating disorders and group therapy, which was incredibly informative and really interesting. The women showed a video that linked eating disorders and lack of intimacy. Another session I went to talked about expectations, hope, and alliance. This session was a great reminder of the importance of connecting with a client well before the first session. You can help clients to know the quality of therapy they will receive by your referrals, website, and first phone call. Finally, I went to the showcase. This was the most exciting part for me. I was able to meet and greet with the PhD programs I am interested in. I really enjoyed talking with these prospective schools and seeing what they had to offer and what I could bring to the table. Overall, it was nice to be in a professional environment where I felt like my career path was validated and developing all at once.”  -Kendra Arsenault

Overall, this AAMFT conference this year was a very educational and energizing to those who were able to attend. All of us here at the Marriage and Family Institute will be anxiously awaiting the AAMFT annual conference next year in Portland, Oregon!