Critical Topics in Family Therapy: AFTA Monograph Series Highlights (AFTA SpringerBriefs in Family Therapy)

This Brief From The American Family Therapy Academy (afta) Is A Collection Of Chapters From The Afta Monograph Series. The Chapters Specifically Address Responses To A Wide Range Of Contextual Phenomena From A Relational Family Therapy Perspective. Chapters Are Grounded In Family Systems Concepts And Informed By Postmodern Perspectives Including Social Justice. The Collection Provides Cutting Edge Thinking And Practices For A Variety Of Experiences That Strongly Impact Individuals And Families. Authors Address The Treatment Of Couples And Families Oppressed By Socio-contextual Phenomena Such As War And Poverty, And Of Those Marginalized By The Insidious Impact Of Dominant Discourse On Relationships And On The Therapeutic Context, For Example, Sexual/gender Identity And Sexual Practices. Established Practitioners And Scholars With Particular Expertise In The Areas Addressed Bring Exceptional Transparency And Knowledge To The Descriptions Of Their Work. Researchers, Clinicians, Educators, And Students Of Family And Couples Therapy Will Find This Volume Very Useful. Introduction And Overview.- families In The War Zone: Narratives Of “me” And The “other” In The Course Of Therapy -- Reflections On Growing Up In A War Zone: Understanding War And Building Peace.- fresh Start For Families: A Collaboratively-build Community –based Program For Families That Are Homeless -- Constructing Empowerment And Resilience Contexts: Systemic Interventions In Communities -- Challenges And Changes To Family Therapy Practice In South Africa -- Nuestra Casa [our Home]: From The Family To The Community -- Helping Children Heal After The Hurricanes: An Innovative Training Approach -- “news From Neuroscience: Applications To Couple Therapy” -- Neurobiology And Addiction: Assisting The Family And Support System To Get Resistant Loved Ones Into Treatment -- Doing Family: Decentering Heteronormativity In “marriage” And “family” Therapy -- Families In Transition: Supporting Families Of Transgender Youth -- Erotic Fantasy Reconsidered: From Tragedy To Triumph -- Couples And Kinky Sexuality: The Need For A New Therapeutic Approach -- Open Relationships: A Culturally And Clinically Sensitive Approach. Edited By Thorana Nelson, Hinda Winawer. Acknowledgements 6 Editorial Acknowledgements 8 Contents 9 Contributors 11 Critical Topics in Family Therapy: AFTA Monograph Series Highlights 14 Introduction 14 This Volume and the Legacy of AFTA 14 The Evolution of AFTA Publications 16 The Current Work 17 References 17 Part I 18 Touched by War Zones, Near and Far: Oscillations of Despair and Hope, 2005 —Jodie Kliman, Guest Editor 18 Families in the War Zone: Narratives of “Me” and the “Other” in the Course of Therapy 19 Introduction 19 Political Factors 20 Economic Factors 20 Social Factors 20 Religious Factors 20 Personal Components 21 Living in a War Zone 21 The Cycle of Violence 21 The Therapeutic Context 22 Terror as a Therapeutic Context 24 The Therapist’s Future Orientation 24 Therapists’ Coping Strategies 25 Reducing the Experienced Level of Threat in Order to Deal with the Horror of the Event 25 Between Demonization and Humanization of “The Enemy Other” 26 Shifting Between Identification and Disengagement 26 Empathizing 27 Children’s Visions of the Conflict 27 The Aggressive View 28 The Pessimistic View 28 The Optimistic View 28 When Subject and the “Enemy Other” Are in the Same Boat of Grief and Pain 29 Our Long Term Goals—Promoting Reconciliation 29 References 31 Reflections on Growing Up in a War Zone: Understanding War and Building Peace 32 Introduction 32 The Beginning: AFTA 2003 33 Defining the War Zone 33 Mapping the War Zone: The Impact of Location and Experience 34 The Continuum of War: Two Perspectives on Expanding the Self 35 Encountering Hatred: “If You Gave Me a Serbian Baby, I Could Kill It” 36 Roxana’s Story: Witnessing From a Privileged Safety 37 AFTA 2004: Inviting More Voices 38 Reflections on the “Other” 39 Expanding the Self to Include the Other 40 Conclusion 41 References 42 Part II 44 Lessons Learned in Community Practice, 2005—Ramón Rojano, Guest Editor 44 Fresh Start for Families: A Collaboratively-built Community-based Program for Families that are Homeless 45 Step 1: Initiating the Project, Forming the Collaborative Professional Relationships, and Engaging Cultural Consultants 47 Step 2: Intensive Interviewing of Family Members 48 Step 3: Intensive Interviewing of Agency Professionals 48 Step 4: Phrase-By-Phrase Qualitative Coding 48 Step 5: Creating Program Formats and Contents and Writing an Initial Manual 49 Step 6: Piloting of the Group with Meeting-By-Meeting Evaluations by Participants 50 Step 7: Revising the Program and Manual 50 Step 8: Intensive Interviewing of Families for Each Subsequent Group Cycle 50 Step 9: Evaluating Effectiveness in Comparison or Randomized Designs 50 Step 10: Disseminating and Adapting the Program to Other Settings 51 Has the Program Helped Anyone? 51 Challenges 52 Lack of Time 52 Pressure on Families to Move Out 52 Changes in Welfare and Housing Policies 52 Why Do We Keep Doing It? 52 References 53 Systemic Community Psychiatry 54 References 56 Constructing Empowerment and Resilience Contexts: Systemic Interventions in Communities 57 Our Program 59 Reflexive Groups and Focus Groups 59 Community Therapy 59 References 62 Challenges and Changes to Family Therapy Practice in South Africa 63 The Challenges 63 Respect for Difference 64 Community Responsiveness 66 Nurturance Through Nature, Arts and Drama 68 Conclusion 69 References 69 Nuestra Casa [Our Home]: From the Family to the Community 72 References 75 Part III 76 Systemic Responses to Disaster: Stories of the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, 2007—John Sargent, Guest Editor 76 Helping Children Heal After the Hurricanes: An Innovative Training Approach 77 Life in the Gulf States Before the Hurricanes 78 After the Hurricanes 79 The National Center’s Response 80 Training Content 81 Community Feedback and Future Plans 84 References 84 Part IV 86 Neuroscience and Family Therapy: Integrations and Applications, 2008—Martha Edwards, Guest Editor 86 “News from Neuroscience”: Applications to Couple Therapy 87 References 95 Neurobiology and Addiction: Assisting the Family and Support System to Get Resistant Loved Ones into Treatment 97 Living With a Stranger 97 The Neurobiology of Addiction 99 Identity and Ambiguous Loss in the Family 101 Practical Implications for Clinicians Answering a Family Member’s Request to Help a Resistant Loved One Getting Into Treatment 103 Overview of Invitational Intervention: The ARISE Model 103 Summary 105 References 106 Part V 107 Expanding Our social Justice Practices: Advances in Theory and Training, 2010—Jane Ariel, Pilar Hernandez-Wolfe, and Sarah Stearns, Guest Editors 107 Doing Family: Decentering Heteronormativity in “Marriage” and “Family” Therapy 108 Introduction 108 Heteronormativity 109 Gender, Sexuality and Family 110 Sexual Minority Status 111 Queering Family Therapy 111 “Doing Family”: Family Therapy Transformed 112 Shifting the Paradigm 114 Attend to the Use of Language and Name What Has Been Silenced 114 Understand the Impact of Heteronormative Culture on Research and Practice 114 Include an Examination of Heterosexual Privilege 115 Conclusion 116 References 116 Part VI 119 At the Edge: Exploring Gender and Sexuality in Couples and Families, 2011—Arlene Lev and Jean Malpas, Guest Editors 119 Families in Transition: Supporting Families of Transgender Youth 120 Construction of Meaning 121 Clinical Implications 122 Support 123 Clinical Implications 124 Flexibility and Stability 125 Clinical Implications 126 Sensitive Communication 127 Clinical Implications 128 Conclusion 128 References 129 Erotic Fantasy Reconsidered: From Tragedy to Triumph 131 References 137 Couples and Kinky Sexuality: The Need for a New Therapeutic Approach 138 Defining BDSM and Kinky Sex 139 What the Data Tell Us 141 Countertransference: If It is Not Sick, Why Does It Seem So Weird? 142 How to Tell When a Behavior Really is Problematic 143 Resources and Suggestions for Working With BDSM Clients 144 Clinical Vignette 146 References 147 Open Relationships: A Culturally and Clinically Sensitive Approach 149 Culturally and Contextually Sensitive Practice 150 Compersion 151 Starvation Economy 151 Myth of Equality 152 Jealousy 152 Institutional and Social Prejudice 153 Ethical Considerations 153 Clinical Application 154 Exploring Nonmonogamy 154 Negotiating Nonmonogamy 156 Conclusion 157 References 158 Front Matter....Pages i-xv Critical Topics in Family Therapy: AFTA Monograph Series Highlights....Pages 1-4 Front Matter....Pages 5-5 Families in the War Zone: Narratives of “Me” and the “Other” in the Course of Therapy....Pages 7-19 Reflections on Growing Up in a War Zone: Understanding War and Building Peace....Pages 21-32 Front Matter....Pages 33-33 Fresh Start for Families: A Collaboratively-built Community-based Program for Families that are Homeless....Pages 35-43 Systemic Community Psychiatry....Pages 45-47 Constructing Empowerment and Resilience Contexts: Systemic Interventions in Communities....Pages 49-54 Challenges and Changes to Family Therapy Practice in South Africa....Pages 55-63 Nuestra Casa [Our Home]: From the Family to the Community....Pages 65-68 Front Matter....Pages 69-69 Helping Children Heal After the Hurricanes: An Innovative Training Approach....Pages 71-79 Front Matter....Pages 81-81 “News from Neuroscience”: Applications to Couple Therapy....Pages 83-92 Neurobiology and Addiction: Assisting the Family and Support System to Get Resistant Loved Ones into Treatment....Pages 93-102 Front Matter....Pages 103-103 Doing Family: Decentering Heteronormativity in “Marriage” and “Family” Therapy....Pages 105-115 Front Matter....Pages 117-117 Families in Transition: Supporting Families of Transgender Youth....Pages 119-129 Erotic Fantasy Reconsidered: From Tragedy to Triumph....Pages 131-137 Couples and Kinky Sexuality: The Need for a New Therapeutic Approach....Pages 139-149 Open Relationships: A Culturally and Clinically Sensitive Approach....Pages 151-161