AAFT ANNUAL CONFERENCE
UNITING EXPERTS IN FAMILY THERAPY
Our
Story
About the Asian Academy of Family Therapy
The Asian Academy of Family Therapy (AAFT) is a charitable, non-profit professional body dedicated to advancing family therapy research, training, and practice across Asia.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, AAFT brings together clinicians, educators, and researchers from Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia, and beyond. It is the first organization of its kind devoted specifically to the development of family therapy in the Asian region.
Our story
AAFT grew out of the HKU Family Institute (HKUFI), founded in 2003 to strengthen clinical training, practice, and research in response to rising demand for high-quality family intervention. The same founding group established the Academy of Family Therapy in 2012. In 2015, it became the Asian Academy of Family Therapy, reflecting the growing number of family therapists across the region who wanted to join the work.
In 2020, with support from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, AAFT opened Hong Kong’s first dedicated family therapy center, the Jockey Club Family Therapy Center at No. 4 Pottinger Street, Central. The Center provides clinical services, professional training, and evidence-based research, with a focus on child-centered divorce work, mental health in the family context, and family biofeedback assessment.
Our community
AAFT is a membership organization. Members and affiliates across Asia and internationally are committed to family health and to building family therapy as a profession that honors the cultures and contexts of the region.
Annual conference
Each year AAFT hosts a conference in a different city, bringing together leading figures from Asia, Europe, and North America and highlighting the distinctive geographical and cultural strengths of each host region.
AAFT has held conferences in Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, and Okinawa.
Through conferences, cross-regional training, research, and professional development, AAFT promotes family therapy as a vital intervention and builds a lasting platform for collaboration among systemic practitioners in Asia.