March 08, 2017

Knudson-Martin receives family therapy award

Counseling Psychology professor Carmen Knudson-Martin has received the 2017 Distinguished Contribution to Family Therapy Theory and Practice award.

Counseling Psychology professor Carmen Knudson-Martin has received the 2017 Distinguished Contribution to Family Therapy Theory and Practice award. 

Awarded annually by the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA), the Distinguished Contribution to Family Therapy Theory and Practice award recognizes outstanding contributions to family therapy theory and practice, reflecting cumulative achievement over a career.

Professor Knudson-Martin’s work focuses on the connections between the larger society and individual and relational health, with a desire to learn how family therapists can recognize and work with these connections in the moment by moment of therapy.

“Dr. Carmen Knudson-Martin has effectively argued that power matters and must be addressed in family therapy,” said Teresa McDowell, professor and chair of the counseling psychology department. “Her groundbreaking research on how to support equitable couple relationships has had a resounding effect on clinical practice. Dr. Knudson’s work as a clinician, educator, and mentor has impacted the research and practice of a plethora of practitioners and scholars over her highly productive and respected career”

AFTA is an academy of prominent educators, practitioners, and researchers dedicated to advancing knowledge, theories, and practices that regard the family as a unit in a social context with a core commitment to social responsibility and justice.

“This award is a statement from the field about how important this work is and an impetus to keep at it, knowing that we can make a difference,” says Knudson-Martin of the prestigious recognition.