Dear Colleagues,
One of the privileges of leading AFCC is touching base each day with members and contributors throughout the world. In 2025, a common thread ran through these conversations: instability and rapid change.
Therapists report clients overwhelmed by the weight of the moment. Our legal colleagues are challenged in an environment increasingly untethered from norms once assumed fixed. Academics describe what seems like a slide in critical thought and original work. Across the board I hear that our members are both unsettled and eager to harness algorithms and AI, which amplify both the turbulence and promise of what’s ahead. Those shifts are felt throughout AFCC in our programming, task forces, and publications.
Just last month the conference committee had the great honor of reviewing nearly 200 proposals for the 2026 Annual Conference in Seattle this May. Each required citations, references, and cultural statements. Many were excellent. Some were not. Nearly 5% cited literature that didn’t exist, authors (often at the table reviewing the proposal) were cited for papers they did not write. “I didn’t know I had published with this person before” was a grim laugh line.
The committee did its job, verified sources, and disqualified the artificial work. The result is an exceptional, deep, and diverse program of 80 workshops, six preconference institutes, and two general sessions on the theme “What Lies Beneath, Hidden Forces Shaping Families in Transition.” Registration opened today!
Like the conference committee, the Court Involved Therapy Task Force has convened to update the 2010 guidelines. Guided by the steady hand and deep expertise of Kate McNamara and Lyn Greenberg they too have struggled with how the guidelines will meet our moment and stay relevant in a rapidly changing world. They will discuss their efforts to date in Seattle.
Family Court Review is wrestling with these same challenges. The student editors, Editorial Board, and Editors must navigate the promise and peril of AI assisted entries as they continue to bring us the field’s leading dialogues in family court research and practice.
This month marks a milestone at this heart of AFCC’s intellectual life. With deep gratitude, we thank Dr. Marsha Kline Pruett for her service as Social Science Editor since 2019, bridging research, policy, and practice with rigor. The January 2026 issue is her last in that role. She will continue to review and serve ex officio on the Editorial Board. We welcome Dr. Michael Saini as the new Social Science Editor, whose editorial philosophy is grounded in “rigor, relevance, inclusion, and integrity” and who shares his predecessor’s commitment to mentoring emerging scholars, elevating international and interdisciplinary voices, and ensuring publications grounded in evidence.
In a time of rapid change, AFCC continues to gather our community across disciplines, embrace innovation, and identify best practices for the resolution of family conflict. Thank you for making this your professional home. I look forward to seeing you in May.
See you in Seattle,
Bryan Altman
Executive Director