Transition Time: Passing the Editor Baton

Abstract

After 5 years as Editor of Contemporary Family Therapy I have decided to step down at the end of December 2011. I do so with gratitude for the unique opportunities and experiences this position has provided. And I offer my best wishes to Dr. Russell Crane, who will take over the editor duties as of January 1, 2012. I trust that he, too, will find the perspective offered by and the roles inherent in this position to be enlightening and meaningful. The following are a few closing reflections in this regard. Most importantly, I have appreciated the opportunity to work with both scholars and reviewers from around the world. It is, of course, thanks to those who are called to do the practice and research and then share their findings that journals such as this one are able to contribute to the growth and development of the field of marital/couple and family therapy. At the same time, an equal contribution is provided by the many, many reviewers who volunteer their time and energy to the evaluation of manuscripts and the provision of feedback to authors. The role of mentor also has been extremely significant for me. Indeed, I have felt a tremendous responsibility to help those newer to the challenge of writing publishable articles become successful authors, just as I was helped earlier in my career. Even when the final decision was to reject, I believed that the blow could be softened—for the author(s) and for me—by offering comments and suggestions that might help in future work. In addition, it certainly has been interesting for me to consider the various articles submitted as each issue deadline has approached. Indeed, with the exception of one special issue, no theme was ever established in advance, nor did I ever solicit articles on a particular topic. And yet, most of the time I was able to infer patterns among the articles that were ready for publication. Often, as was the case with this edition, these patterns transcended international boundaries. They speak to me of current trends and the evolution of future developments in the field, which certainly is important information for all of us. For example, in this issue I have identified three patterns among the seven articles