March 12, 2019

Lana Kim, MCFT, receives AFTA’s Early Career Award for significant contributions to the field

“It is my greatest honor to share in the work of AFTA and to be recognized by my colleagues for my contributions. I am deeply humbled to receive this award.” - Lana Kim

Lana Kim, associate professor of Marriage, Couple, and Family Therapy (MCFT), is the 2019 recipient of the American Family Therapy Academy’s Early Career Award. Recipients of this award have made a significant and widely known contribution to the field that is reflected in a significant body of published works, or a meaningful contribution to teaching, theory, research, or program development within the first 10 years after obtaining their terminal degree.

“I believe in the work that my esteemed colleagues and peers do at AFTA and I am grateful for the way their knowledge and insight continuously stimulates my own thinking, teaching, scholarship, and practice,” says Kim. “It is my greatest honor to share in the work of AFTA and to be recognized by my colleagues for my contributions. I am deeply humbled to receive this award.”

Kim earned her PhD and MS degrees in MFT, with a concentration in Medical Family Therapy, from Loma Linda University and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. In her clinical work, she draws from narrative approaches and socio-emotional relationship therapy, and is interested in the ways in which power, culture, and larger social contexts shape lived experience, relationships, problems, and the process of change in therapy. Her research interests include second generation Asian-American families, parent-child relationships, culturally responsive MFT practices, clinical supervision, and medical family therapy and collaborative care practices.  

“Lana Kim exemplifies relational practice and social action at its best,” says Carmen Knudson-Martin, MCFT program director and professor. “Peers, students, and colleagues universally describe Lana’s ability to get things done with grace, keen attention to detail and organization, and superb interpersonal skills.”

Kim will be officially recognized and receive the award at AFTA’s annual conference on June 22 in Oakland, CA.