At the Association of Family Therapy (AFT), we take our responsibility to address systemic racism in all its forms seriously. AFT will provide equality in opportunities and ensure inclusivity within our organisational system and influence/change external systems. We will continue to explore and learn together how to overcome issues, such as white privilege and power that exist across society. 
 
As an organisation, we are committed to creating an environment that supports people from all walks of life. We believe that diversity in gender and gender identity, race, sexuality, disability, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and culture is a key strength and pivotal in creating a supportive environment for staff, members and the public. We encourage and appreciate feedback and strive to ensure that the Association is a safe and open space for all. 

Equalities Statement

AFT is committed to respecting equality of opportunity and values difference and inclusivity. As an organisational member of UKCP, AFT fully supports their diversity and equality statement and racial injustice statement. 

• UKCP STATEMENT: DIVERSITY & EQUALITIES
• UKCP STATEMENT: RACIAL INJUSTICE

We recognise historic systemic and institutionalised racism within our society and how this legacy has a lasting impact on generations of those affected. We also recognise that systemic and institutional racism is still present within the UK today. We acknowledge the hurt and pain that has been experienced by the marginalised community, some of whom are members of AFT.
 
Through our various committees, including DEI (Diversity, Equality and Inclusion) and Ethics, the AFT board and staff continuously strive to develop and promote anti-racist practices. Race, culture, social justice and equality should have continuous presence in clinical practice, supervision, teaching and training, on our website, in our publications and any online forums that are associated with AFT. We will continue to work to ensure there is more training, writing and guidance for family and systemic psychotherapists who may need support to decolonise their practices. We will also continue to challenge other marginalising practices and subjugation in all their diverse forms, including antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny and ageism, alongside racial oppression, whenever these may occur. AFT values diversity whilst rejecting division.

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A statement on the conflict in the Middle East – October 2023

As a board, we stand in solidarity as members from Muslim, Jewish, Christian, atheist, Sikh and Jamaican communities. We unite in our advocacy for freedom, belonging, safety and healing for all. Our hearts are with all those affected by the terrible violence and humanitarian crisis in the region and we recognise the historical and political complexity that makes so much of this painful and hard to understand.

We want to support all members of our AFT community, and the communities we serve as psychotherapists, who have been impacted by these events, and particularly we reach out to our Jewish and Palestinian colleagues.  

Together, in a spirit of unity, we hope for a time when every family and community can live in peace, safety and dignity.

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Black Lives Matter - May 2022

As we marked the second anniversary of George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, which sparked protest in America and around the world aiming to change racial injustice within institutions and wider society, we, AFT, affirm our commitment to racial equality and our solidarity against any form of prejudice or inequality.
 
The Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice stands in solidarity – whilst connecting with the principles of the Black Lives Matter movement – in addressing systemic racism and racial inequalities. We are committed to social justice and oppose inequalities on the basis of race, religion, culture and ethnicity. In practice, this means we will provide opportunities to learn more and explore the consequences of social inequality, oppression and injustice. We will encourage the continued revision of family therapy/systemic practice training material to take into account political and social ideologies that create and maintain racism; thus addressing the contexts within which the lives of those we work are embedded.
 
We have been reminded by the appalling murders of George Floyd and Stephen Lawrence that we must continue to play an active role in overcoming prejudice and institutional racism in all its forms wherever it exists.
 
Inequality impacts on us all as individuals, in our personal and professional contexts, in organisations, on our emotional and mental health, and on our relationships. AFT aims to highlight and challenge the injustices that create disparities in staffing of, and access to mental health and social care services, as directly relevant to family and systemic psychotherapists, systemic practitioners and systemic supervisors.

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AFT is not aligning itself with or endorsing any specific organisation or their activity.