Nominations for Practitioner Awards

The International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors is pleased to announce the opening of the nomination process for the annual practice awards, which will be presented at the IAMFC luncheon on April 2, 2004. Nominations are invited for the following awards:

Training and Mentorship Award
The purpose of the Training and Mentorship Award is to honor the contribution of an IAMFC member whose role as a trainer and mentor has helped to ensure the future of the family counseling profession. This award will be presented to an educator who has succeeded in nurturing the talents of students entering the field. Letters of nomination should provide examples illustrating creativity, excellence, and caring in the individual's approach to teaching. Descriptions of the individual's efforts to increase the diversity of the population of new professionals are especially welcome.

Practitioner Award
The purpose of the Practitioner Award is to recognize excellence in the practice of family counseling. Professional couple and family counselors form the heart of our association but tend to receive very little glory. This award will honor an IAMFC member whose work as a family counselor has been outstanding in meeting the unique needs of clients. Letters of nomination should provide examples illustrating the individual's use of innovative strategies to involve families in counseling and to help them attain their goals. Descriptions of the individual's efforts to adapt practice to the needs of a diverse client population are especially welcome.

Student Practitioner Award
The Student Practitioner Award serves to recognize excellence in the practice of family counseling by an IAMFC Graduate Student member. This award will honor an IAMFC Graduate Student whose work as a counselor, including internship and practicum experience, has been outstanding in meeting the needs of families in counseling. Letters of nomination from a University Professor, Private Practitioner, or Supervisor should provide examples illustrating the student counselor's use of innovative strategies, family-based interventions, and the ability to meet the needs of diverse populations.

Outstanding Leadership Award
The purpose of this award is to recognize the efforts of an individual whose ongoing efforts have helped to advance the profession of family counseling. An IAMFC member whose endeavors have promoted excellence in the practice of family counseling and enhanced recognition of the profession will be honored. Letters of nomination should provide examples illustrating the individual's ongoing contributions to the profession.

Letters of nomination should clearly state the name and address of the nominator, the name and address of the nominee, and the award category for which the individual is being nominated. Nominees must be current members of IAMFC.

Letters of nomination must be postmarked no later than February 15, and should be sent to:

Thomas W. Blume, Ph.D., LPC, LMFT, IAMFC Practice Award Chair
Department of Counseling SEHS
Oakland University
Rochester, MI 48309
ph. 248-370-3069
fax 248-370-4141
www.ircounseling.com

Nominations for Research Awards

IAMFC also invites nominations for two different research awards, IAMFC Graduate Student Research Award & IAMFC Member Research Award.

Through these annual awards, IAMFC recognizes recent high quality quantitative and qualitative research in marriage, couples, and family counseling and recent high quality quantitative and qualitative research in the training and supervision of family counselors and trainees. Nominations may be made by members of ACA, IAMFC, or another division of ACA. Self-nominations are eligible for consideration. 2004 Research awards will be presented at the IAMFC Luncheon at the ACA convention in Kansas City on April 2.

Letters of nomination should clearly state the name and address of the nominator, the name and address of the nominee, and the award category for which the individual is being nominated. Nominees must be current members of IAMFC. For the Graduate Student Research Award, a letter of nomination from a University Professor should be submitted, along with an abstract of the student's research. Completed nomination packets should be postmarked by February 15, 2004 and sent to:

Dr. Richard Ricard, IAMFC Research Chair
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
6300 Ocean Drive, FC 218
Corpus Christi, Texas 78412
rricard@falcon.tamucc.edu