Welcome to

Asian Academy of family therapy

Asian Academy of Family Therapy (AAFT) is a charitable and non-profit organization with a vision to promote family therapy research, training, and practice in Asia.

Our headquarters is established in Hong Kong, with members from all over Asia, including Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Mainland China, Singapore, and Malaysia.

The Asian Academy of Family Therapy (AAFT) was formed by the same group of visionaries who had created the HKU Family Institute (HKUFI) a decade ago. Having started as the Academy of Family Therapy in 2012, it became the Asian Academy of Family Therapy in 2015 to reflect the interests and activities of other family therapists in the Asian region who wish to join our venture.

To create a platform for systemic thinkers and practitioners in Asia to exchange and collaborate on the development of family therapy as a profession in the region

OUR mission and visIon

Through annual conferences, cross-regional training and research development, as well as establishing a professional accreditation system, we aim to promote family therapy as an important therapeutic intervention that can reflect the unique culture of each region in Asia

Developing Family Therapy in Asia

Asia is a vast geographic area with diverse cultures. Each region has very different family norms and language expressions. Despite our differences, we do share things that are uniquely Asian, such as an emphasis on collectivism, extended family system, and a strong sense of family belonging. Although family therapy associations have been established in different parts of the world, AAFT is the first organization of its kind that is dedicated to the development of family therapy in the Asian region.

1. Asian couples in negotiation: A mixed method analysis of cultural variations among couples from five Asian regions [1]

This comparative research on how couples negotiate their differences among five regions including Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Shanghai, and Hong Kong and set the ground for prominent figures from each region to develop Asian Academy of Family Therapy. This study was considered the first large scale collaboration among these regions in Asia. The manuscript was published as a featured article in the Family Process and was later regarded as having broken many myths about Asian families [2].

Major Research Collaborations

[1] Lee, W. Y., Nakamura, S. I., Chung, M. J., Chun, Y. J., Liang, S. C., Meng, F., & Liu, C. L. (2013). Asian couples in negotiation: A mixed method analysis of cultural variations among couples from five Asian regions. Family Process, 52(3), 499-518.

[2] Creamer, E.G., & Edwards, C. (2019). Embedding the dialogic in mixed method approaches to theory development. International Journal of Research & Method in Education 42(3):239-251

DOI: 10.1080/1743727X.2019.1598357.

[3] Lee, W. Y., Ng, M. L., Cheung, B. K. L., and Yung, J. W. (2010). Capturing children’s response to parental conflict and making use of it. Family Process, 49(1), 43-58.

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