Winter 1999
A Conversation with Executive Director Rick Brown

Q What are some of the major accomplishments of the Institute for Imago Relationship Therapy in the last four years?

A One of the exciting things is our increased exposure on the Internet. When we first initiated our website at www.imagotherapy.com 3 years ago, we were getting about 15,000 hits a month. Last year we reported an increase to 35,000 hits. We are now consistently receiving over 100,000 hits a month! We're finding that more and more people are using the Internet to locate weekend workshops, to locate therapists, to find out about Imago Relationship Therapy, and to purchase on-line Imago resources.

Clearly another major accomplishment was stabilizing the Institute financially so that we could keep the doors open. By streamlining the expenses and becoming more efficient, we have been able to improve the quality of our services and add additional resources for our members like offering discounted credit card and check processing services. In addition, we were able to decrease membership fees from $290 in 1995 to $225 which we have maintained for the past 4 years.

Recently, we expanded our product catalog to include products by other Imago therapists in an effort to not only make available more resources to the general public and professional communities but to also assist Imago therapists in marketing their creative efforts.

Another major milestone has been the international visibility we have gained due to our exposure on the web, the "international pioneers" that bring Imago lectures and weekend workshops abroad, and the international book sales. In fact, as I'm talking to you I'm writing a letter to a therapist who is interested in bringing an Imago weekend workshop and training to Singapore. Over the last four years, IIRT has been able to increase support to the international communities by lowering fees, donating manuals, and/or sending an "ambassador" to speak about Imago Relationship Therapy.

Since 1996, our faculty has been more empowered therefore more visible, more available, and more cohesive as a working and teaching team. In addition to our 3-day annual meeting, we meet once a month on a faculty phone bridge. This I believe was reflected in the clinical update at the AIRT Conference this past October which I found to be invigorating.

IIRT also added an educational track to the Basic Clinical Training Program which enables non-clinicians to attend and participate in the training program for educational purposes, a desire that was repeatedly expressed over the years. These educational graduates are applying Imago theory to their various disciplines.

Q Do you see more people taking advantage of the educational track?

A Absolutely. We are seeing ministers, spouses of therapists, school counselors, physicians, lawyers, and people who do mediation work all of which are now incorporating the Imago material into their own professions.

Q What are some of the Institute's goals as we head into the new millennium?

A It is my hope that the Institute can find a way to increase its marketing efforts. Financially, we don't have the resources for a Marketing Director and/or a budget to support a marketing program but I'd like to find ways where we could bring this important work to more people.

Another major goal would be to increase our national exposure by expanding our website services and having our constituency featured at pertinent conferences.

It is also my hope that the Association for Imago Relationship Therapy would join us in our efforts to wisely spend our limited dollars and lessen the confusion about the two organizations. I have concerns about unnecessary duplication of services such as directories, websites, newsletters, and 800 telephone numbers. Ultimately, we need to determine how we can best meet the needs of the membership and general public in an efficient way. That's a big challenge and I welcome input from the community on this.

Another top priority is to continue to support the international exposure. As Executive Director I'm in a unique position in that I can serve as a type of ambassador: I can go over and plant a seed by leading a weekend workshop, nourish that seed with training, and then leave the newly established trained group to expand and deepen its roots. This is what happened in Denmark. After leading weekend workshops and two clinical trainings, we have an excellent group of Imago therapists along with Certified Workshop Presenter Jette Simon. I'm using that model where I, or another faculty member, can establish a solid therapeutic base and then leave so that the community is no longer dependent on one person.

Q It seems that much of the press centers on relationship resources such as PREP, Pairs, and Marriage Enrichment. Why do you feel Imago Relationship Therapy has been overlooked?

A Imago Therapy is in a unique position in that we are somewhat of a hybrid: we appeal both to the therapist and to the layperson. The Family Therapy Networker holds an annual conference for therapists at which Imago Therapy is consistently well-received. In contrast to this type of annual gathering of therapists, the Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education [which offers the annual "Smart Marriages/Happy Families" conference] set out to move away from the focus on therapy and put the focus on educational and preventive measures to the extent that their website will not link to any organization or list any events that has the word 'therapy' in it. Since Imago Relationship Therapy speaks directly to both the educational and preventive components (for example, our weekend workshops for singles and couples) and because of our reputed network of therapists and large following, members of the Imago community are regularly invited to participate in the Smart Marriage conference. (In fact, I led the keynote address at their first conference in 1997.) But because of our therapeutic components, we are not fully embraced when, for example, related stories are covered in the media.

However, because of our wide appeal, we are receiving more and more invitations to notable events such as the Renaissance Weekend [see page 4]. In addition, on November 19th I have been invited to the home of one of our country's leading Senators where I will have an opportunity to present for 3 hours to a small gathering of Congressional wives and invited guests. We are hoping this will lead to an invitation to talk about Imago Relationship Therapy to an entire group of Congressional wives. So, if Capital Hill is taking notice, I would imagine the media will catch on again soon!