Delve, Yoko Totsuka, Liz Burns, Carol Payne, Joanne Hipplewith, Marie McGovern, Lauren Hills and Chip Chimera. The committee would again like to give particular thanks


to general editor, Brian Cade, who ensures that every issue of Context is meticulously proof-read and presented in the best form, and Louise Norris, our publications manager, without whose diligence, expertise, patience and hard work we would be lost. We are so grateful to John and Kate Hills for producing Context


over many years. We are glad that John is going to still be around if we need him and indeed he did attend our most recent AFT publishing/Context meeting. If you would like to become a proof reader or join the


publishing committee please let me know at ged59@hotmail.com. Advertising online and via email continues to be very popular


and is an important source of income for AFT and helps to support the association’s activities. We recognise the diffi culties organisations are having in recruiting and we would hope that AFT reaches a target audience. If we can help with advertising please get in touch with Louise Norris. Details of all of the advertis-ing options available can be found on the AFT website: http://www.aft. org.uk/jobs/view/advertisewithaft.html


Ged Smith,


chair of AFTP and Context deputy editor Journal of Family Therapy


18 months into my tenure as editor of the journal and I am just


starting to work out how it all works! And that was with a six month lead-in time shadowing Reenee Singh, my predecessor. We had 91 submitted articles last year, a signifi cant increase from


the previous year, and getting us back more to the levels we had enjoyed previously. 24 of these came from the UK, with 23 from the rest of Europe, and 15 from the US. Our ‘impact factor’ as defi ned by the rate at which articles published during the previous two years had been cited, went up slightly from 1.066 to 1.138. The fi rst ‘special edition’ of my tenure as editor about how family


therapy and systemic practice can make a diff erence in front line social care, co-edited with Nick Pendry, is about to go to press as I write this in early July. We hope that this will make a signifi cant impact upon our fi eld in the UK and beyond, illustrating a new wave of practice emerging in these contexts, that have as yet in our view received the attention that they deserve. Bill Madsen, who has written widely about such work in the US has been kind enough to write a commentary. The next special edition in line will be about systemic approaches to


trauma, to be edited by Susan Lord, and we have already received some exciting submissions, but there is still time for getting something in if you have an interest in this area. The sharp-eyed amongst you may have spotted that the editorial


board and I have rewritten the ‘aims and scope’ of the journal on our website to bring it more up-to-date with contemporary practice. It “seeks to advance the understanding of human systems such as couples, families, professional networks and wider groups, and how to most eff ectively intervene in such systems”, doing so in a language that is accessible beyond our discipline. AFT members now have free access to the excellent Journal of


Marital and Family Therapy, the largely practice-focused journal of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy whose members will also be able to access the Journal of Family Therapy: do make the


66


most of this! In a spirit of international collaboration we have also developed closer links with Family Process, with a co-edited special virtual edition of the most infl uential articles that have appeared in either journal since 1980 soon to appear, which as you will see contains many gems. Apart from continuing to seek to attract new authors, our board


is also keen to broaden the pool of those interested in reviewing submissions. Our two student members this year Hamada Abdallah and Beth Murphy ran a session with Liz Forbat for students on masters courses interested in doing reviews. Please do get in touch if you would also be interested in contributing in this way to our journal, and I will describe the induction process for taking on this role.


Philip Messent Email: Philip.messent@thembisa.com


AFT representative with UKCP I have been privileged this past 18 months to work closely


with members of the College of Family, Couple and Systemic Therapy (CFCST) within UKCP, taking the role of one of the AFT representatives on that college committee and formal link with our AFT board. Reenee Singh, AFT chief executive offi cer of AFT has this year


ably fulfi lled the ambition of the board that the chief executive would play a part in raising the profi le of systemic family therapy, including within UKCP, increase communication between the organisations and identify areas for positive collaboration. Reenee has set out well in her annual report the key achievements; she has established a close working relationship with Rory Worthington, chair of CFCST and with other members of the committee. In March CFCST committee members attended the AFT board


meeting, creating opportunities to share ideas and understand better each other’s areas of work, and providing opportunities for closer collaboration. In June the CFCST held its annual CPD event combined with


AGM. The committee organised an impressive day, which included a highly-valued half-day workshop ‘Genograms and brief work inviting a dialogue and sustaining ourselves’ led by Rukiya Jemmott and Esther Usiskin Cohen. Sarah Niblock, UKCP chief executive offi cer attended earlier


in the day, was interviewed by Reenee Singh and asked questions posed by members; refl ections on their rich conversation were made by chosen committee members. The UKCP have this year been revising Standards in Education


and Training for working with children (Child SETS). This complex piece of work required CFCST to work closely and in a tight time-frame with representatives from AFT CRED and registration committees, and colleagues involved in training courses to ensure the revisions are in line with our own training standards and vice versa. This also had to link closely with the AFT training review process. Thanks to the skill and collaboration of a task and fi nish group this work has been completed successfully and been presented for ratifi cation in UKCP this week (mid-July). So much work goes on in CFCST for the benefi t of our members;


this brief report cannot do it justice. Hopefully it gives a fl avour of how UKCP and AFT are currently working together in the interest of ensuring the highest standards across our professional communities. You may be interested to read the information about our college. The link below takes you right there! It puts us in context


Context 164, August 2019


AFT branch reports


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