Brigham Young University faculty members from the marriage and family therapy graduate program say they gained international perspectives on strengthening families from a professional conference in Prague, the Czech Republic.
Sponsored by BYU, the Czech Republic Family Therapy Association and the United Kingdom Association for Family Therapy, the conference was the first of its kind to bring the three nations together, said Russell Crane, director of the BYU marriage and family therapy graduate programs."The conference allowed us to create international ties with marriage and family professionals and gain insight into the similarities and differences in families worldwide," Crane said.
"Surprisingly, we found the importance of family to be very similar across cultures, especially in the Czech Republic. The Czech people have a strong emphasis on families and revere their national and family heritage. We found these values to be quite similar to those of Latter-day Saints," Crane said.
As part of the conference, Crane and three of his BYU colleagues made academic presentations.
The conference was funded by a grant from the BYU College of Family, Home and Social Sciences.