One of the marks of a profession's development is the creation of institutionalized structures and customs that recognize and further the development of the field.  Delta Kappa, the International Marriage and Family Therapy Honor Society, is such an institution for the profession of marriage and family therapy.  Delta Kappa, as the official honor society for the field of MFT, serves to further and complement the fine work being done by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the American Family Therapy Academy, and the International Family Therapy Association.  Delta Kappa recognizes the achievements of current students as well as practitioners already in the field who have achieved distinction and continue to make significant contributions to the field.

Delta Kappa, The International Marriage and Family Therapy Honor Society, has three primary aims. The first aim is to train emerging leaders in the field of marriage and family therapy to assume the mantle of leadership in the profession. The second aim is to provide a structure for developing scholarly forums that present cutting edge research and theory on marriage and family therapy to practitioners on an ongoing basis at the local, state, regional, national, and international level. The third aim is to recognize and promote the achievements of marriage and family therapy clinicians and scholars.

Careful consideration was given to the name for the marriage and family therapy honor society. After debate over several options, it was decided that the honor society should have a Greek symbol name since other academic and scholarly honor societies bear this type of designation, and that the name should have symbolic significance reflective of marriage and family therapy. 
 
DELTA KAPPA: This name has symbolic and historical significance within the field of marriage and family therapy. The DELTA was selected because it represents the triangle, symbolic of relationships in marriage and family therapy theory.  The points of the triangle represent the three corners of the therapeutic relationship composed of the client family present in the room, and the therapists and therapeutic treatment team. The third point includes the external influences in both the client family's lives and therapists' lives, such things as ties to extended families and the larger social ecology. The KAPPA was selected because it is the universal symbol for knowledge. The shape of the KAPPA symbol has a single long vertical line representing the intervention that occurs in the therapeutic process. The KAPPA symbol also has two lines meeting at the midpoint of the vertical line. These two lines create a point of confluence with the therapist and the client system joining together, like two tributaries merging into one large river. These two supporting lines represent the collaborative co-evolving nature of work with clients when entering the therapeutic system as marriage and family therapists.

Jennifer Fort developed the initial Delta Kappa logo and letterhead in 2000. Coleman Matthews designed and developed the podium banner in 2005. Both of these were revised in 2012 and 2013 (respectively) by Dr. Robertson in conjunction with Bethany Gray, the International Secretary (2010 - Present). The launch of the official web presence for Delta Kappa, www.deltakappamft.org, occurred in 2013 with a major renovation in 2014.

The Board of Directors decided that Dr. Charles Cole, who speared headed the founding of Delta Kappa, be afforded the honor of establishing the first chapter on his campus at The University of Louisiana at Monroe. On December 4, 1998, the Alpha Chapter received their Charter and the recognition as the first Delta Kappa Chapter.
In 2005, during the 2005 conference of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), Friends University joined the organization by installing two chapters (the Beta Chapter in their Wichita location and the Gamma Chapter in their Kansas City location).  This historic move represented the first expansion of the new organization.

As of February 2023, there are 27 active chapters and 5 inactive chapters. 

The University of Louisiana at Monroe (Alpha Chapter) 

•    Established 1998 

Friends University - Wichita  (Beta Chapter) 

•    Established 2005

Friends University - Kansas City (Gamma Chapter)

•    Established 2005

Converse College  (Delta Chapter)

•    Established 2009

Pfeiffer University - Charlotte (Epsilon Chapter) 

•    Established 2010

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Zeta Chapter)

•    Established 2011

Forest Institute (Eta Chapter) 

•    Established 2012 (Inactive)

Pfeiffer University - Raleigh (Theta Chapter) 

•   Established 2013 (Inactive)

National University (formerly Northcentral University) (Iota Chapter) 

•    Established 2013 

Regis University (Kappa Chapter) 

•    Established 2014

The University of Akron (Lambda Chapter)

•    Established 2014 (Inactive)

 St. Mary's University (Mu Chapter)

•    Established 2014 (Inactive)

Abilene Christian University (Nu Chapter)

•    Established 2015

Indiana Wesleyan University (Xi Chapter)

•    Established 2015

Nova Southeastern University (Omicron Chapter)

•    Established 2015

Capella University (Pi Chapter)

•    Established 2016

Hope International University (Rho Chapter)

•    Established 2016

Our Lady of the Lake University (Sigma Chapter)

•    Established 2016

Christian Theological Seminary (Tau Chapter)

•    Established 2016

Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Upsilon Chapter)

•    Established 2017

Chapman University (Phi Chapter)

•    Established April 2017

Central Connecticut State University (Chi Chapter)

•    Established May 2017

Lee University (Psi Chapter)

•    Established April 2017

Membership in Delta Kappa opens the door for many leadership opportunities. Developing professionals can take active leadership roles in their local chapter through the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall consist of the Chapter officers and the Faculty Advisor. The Executive Committee shall be the governing body of the Chapter. It shall transact all business relating to the Chapter as a whole between meetings. The Executive Committee shall be responsible for planning an activity calendar for the year, which is distributed to all members. There will be an installation of members at least once each year. Each academic term, the Chapter will have a least one meeting at which scholarly presentations are made as well as opportunities for social discourse and personal development.
 
Chapter President: The President shall perform all duties as usually pertain to the office of President (reference Robert's Rules of Order, newly revised). The President shall appoint all committees except the Nominations Committee who will be appointed by the Executive Committee. The President is the chief executive officer of the chapter and responsible for supervising all administrative duties and carrying out the business of the Chapter. The Chapter President will become a member of Delta Kappa's Council of Presidents.
 
Executive Vice President: The Executive Vice President shall function as President in the President's absence. The Executive Vice President shall serve as the Chapter's Parliamentarian and as a resident authority on the Chapter's By Laws. Working in concert with the President and the Faculty Advisor the Executive Vice President is responsible for preparing the annual report on the state of the chapter to be submitted to Headquarters annually. The Executive Vice President will serve on the executive committee and carry out additional duties assigned by the President.
 
Membership Vice President: The Membership Vice President shall be responsible for organizing the membership initiation ceremony. This includes logistic responsibilities for preparation, set-up, cleanup of refreshments served at all events sponsored by Delta Kappa. The Membership Vice President will also assist members to obtain membership through the DK website and manage the collegiate chapter membership records. The Membership Vice President will serve on the Executive Committee and carry out additional duties assigned by the President.
 
Program Vice President: The Program Vice President shall be responsible for program development. This includes recruiting scholars to give the scholarly address at meetings, symposium, seminars and workshops organized and sponsored by Delta Kappa. The Program Vice President is further responsible for advertising, promoting, and organizing the programs offered by Delta Kappa as well as to arrange and supervise the logistics for holding the event. The Program Vice President will serve on the executive committee and carry out additional duties assigned by the President.
 
Secretary: The Secretary shall keep and distribute the minutes of meetings, correspond with Headquarters through the President and Faculty Advisors direction, and execute related duties pertaining to the office as assigned by the Executive Committee including maintaining appropriate records and compiling necessary reports. The chapter Secretary, through the Faculty Advisor, shall report the names and addresses of the Chapter officers after each election and whenever there is a change for any reason. The Secretary shall also send an annual report to the Headquarters office including the Chapter calendar of events, roster of membership, and any other information requested or considered relevant to representing the success of the Chapter in serving its membership and the purposes of the Society. The Chapter Secretary shall submit summaries of Chapter activities to the Headquarters for publication in the newsletter. The Chapter Secretary will serve on the executive committee and carry out additional duties assigned by the President.
 
Treasurer: The Chapter Treasurer shall work with the Executive Board to formulate an annual budget and maintaining records of the organization's financial transactions. The Treasurer is responsible for to maintain an accounting of the resources of the chapter, to disperse funds to pay the bills of the chapter,  and to prepare a financial statement presented to the chapter executive committee and Headquarters annually. The Treasurer will also track all dues and maintain the chapter's bank account. The Chapter Treasurer will serve on the executive committee and carry out additional duties assigned by the President.
 
Historian: The Chapter Historian will serve as the official archivist for the Chapter. The Historian is responsible for publicity, reporting, and recording all Delta Kappa functions. This includes the preparation of news releases and stories on chapter events in the local, school, and national newspapers. These reports are to be written under the guidance and with the approval of the chapter faculty advisor. The Historian is responsible for taking pictures at all events and submitting them to Headquarters for posting on the official  Delta Kappa website.
 

Marriage and family therapy professionals are invited into membership in Delta Kappa through three avenues. 

1. The first includes students in COAMFTE accredited marriage and family therapy programs who have completed at least 12 graduate credit hours with a grade point average of 3.75 or higher.
2. The second includes graduates from such accredited marriage and family therapy programs with a concluding grade point average of at least 3.5 who have achieved Clinical Fellow status in AAMFT.
3. The third includes senior marriage and family therapy professionals who demonstrate high dedication to scholarship and professional leadership through instruction, research, and/or student/new professional training.