OC’s Kelly Roberts invited to speak to leadership of The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy in March

The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy is a professional association representing more than 50,000 marriage and family therapists. The group’s Leadership Symposium is an annual gathering of the group’s most-accomplished members, and one of the keynote speakers this year is Oklahoma Christian University’s own Kelly Roberts. 

 Roberts is in her first year at OC, serving as an associate professor of psychology and social science and the human sciences graduate programs director. She will speak during the Leadership Symposium in San Antonio, Texas, March 11-12.

 Roberts’ speech is titled “Systemic Family Therapists and Their Timeless Leadership Superpowers.” This workshop will identify leadership literature trends, overview ageless concepts and those that quickly fade, then talk specifically to the profession of family therapy and its role within leadership circles. 

 Tina Winn, chair of OC's Education and Behavioral and Social Sciences Division, congratulated Roberts. 

 “This is a great honor and affirmation of the respect with which Dr. Roberts is held among her professional colleagues,” Winn said.

 The audience for the symposium will be in-person in San Antonio, but it will also be broadcasted virtually for viewers to tune in and ask questions at the end.

 An additional honor for Roberts happened in December when she was invited to join an annual Research Advisory Group for marriage and family therapy.

 “I've been attending [the] meeting every year since 2002 with some of the elite researchers in my field,” Robers said. “I call them the Family Science and MFT SuperBowl Team. They supported me when I started my doctoral program and helped me find my first professorship. I have always sat ‘in the wings’ with bright, collaborative professionals in this meeting, but I've never been invited TO the table until now. This means so much to me. I sat beside 20 of my favorite researchers in December, with a voice and a chair. It's such a great experience when your mentors agree that you're ready to be a colleague.”