Bigger and Stronger

March 07, 2025 By Mark Athitakis

In this article:

Expanding an industry workforce comes on the back of association research identifying new pathways and advocacy work that clears roadblocks.

In 2022, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy conducted a survey of its workforce. It discovered that two substantial things had changed in the profession since the COVID-19 pandemic. First, the rapid growth of interest in telehealth prompted its members to seek out more nonlocal clients — an effort complicated by the fact that they needed to be licensed in any state those clients resided. Secondly, it found that people were interested in entering the field earlier than they historically had, often while they were undergraduates.

To address the licensure issue, AAMFT ramped up its advocacy around licensure portability, connecting with statehouses and recruiting volunteers to participate. “We’ve been working with different state legislatures to reduce the unnecessary burdens [around licensure],” says AAMFT Chief Strategy Officer Amanda Darnley. “We’re saying, ‘Look, I’m licensed in one state in good standing. I have no ethics violations. I’ve completed all of my necessary steps to becoming a therapist. I should be able to use that license to become licensed in your state as well.’” Thus far, seven states have streamlined their licensure transfers, with legislation pending in 10 more states.

To connect with younger potential MFTs, the association has tried to reach them where they’re at, especially on social media. It developed a series of videos under the banner of Jobs of Tomorrow and promoted them heavily on TikTok, Instagram, and elsewhere, showcasing how MFTs go about their work.

“We really targeted this audience on social media,” she says. “We used a lot of TikTok advertising, a lot of targeted digital advertising to drive them to the series. So, we got about a million eyes on understanding what the profession is, how to enter it, what kind of work is done in it.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by AAMFT (@theaamft)

Building Flexibility and Community

Some associations’ fields, like AAMFT’s, have strict guidelines around what kinds of education are required to enter a field. But in many cases, associations can do their part to support their workforces by providing the kind of education and credentialing that qualifies them for the industry.

Elizabeth Weaver Engel, MA, CAE, chief strategist of Spark Consulting, notes that the expense and uncertainty around four-year college degrees has prompted many people to look at alternative credentialing. “And associations are one of the top places for alternative credentialing,” she says. “There is absolutely a need for us to step in with our experience with providing alternative credentialing, with our experience with nontraditional students in nontraditional settings.”

For instance, the Association for Materials Protection and Performance, she notes, has a suite of education programs designed to bring people into its field without requiring a college degree. “They’re filling the gap for people who want to get into the field but who don’t want to go to college, or who are looking to do one of the many jobs in the field where a college degree is a necessity.”

Alongside training, education around the nature of an industry — and debunking myths that hound it — can be equally important for increasing the workforce. Women in Trucking, an association in a field with well-known shortages, has dedicated a lot of energy toward demystifying the industry for potential drivers. President and CEO Jennifer Hedrick, CAE, notes that it communicates the range of jobs in the field beyond long-haul trucking, which may be unrealistic for many potential employees.

“Women often have different needs than men in terms of caregiving responsibilities,” she says. “If they have children at home or a parent or other loved ones that they’re taking care of, they may want some additional flexibility. So over-the-road [jobs] may not be as attractive, but there are certainly short-haul and daylong opportunities that they can take advantage of.”

Community-building is also critical for retention in the field, says Hedrick, which is why it highlights its community to members and potential members. “Word of mouth is crucial, particularly in women’s trucking — if you have a bad experience, if your employer isn’t communicating with you, if they’re not providing you resources, if you don’t feel safe out on the road,” she says. “You lose that pipeline if women are not satisfied, or they don’t feel safe, or they don’t have things like a uniform that fits them … they may seem like very small details, but they do matter, and that makes an impact.”

The Importance of Workforce Research

The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy made changes to its workforce development program in response to research of its members. Its 2022 survey found that 61 percent of people in the field under 40 pursued a career in it while an undergraduate or earlier; older workers pursued it after college or in graduate school. “Because the marriage and family therapy field lacks a direct feeder program at the undergraduate level, and more people are starting training directly after receiving their bachelor’s, targeting those in undergraduate programs with information about the profession will be vital to continue its growth.”

At what stage in your education did you first learn about marriage and family therapy?

Mark Athitakis

Mark Athitakis, a contributing editor for Associations Now, has written on nonprofits, the arts, and leadership for a variety of publications. He is a coauthor of The Dumbest Moments in Business History and hopes you never qualify for the sequel.

Building Flexibility and Community

More from Role of Associations