Feminist Family Therapy

Annotation Written by and for practicing therapists, this text focuses on feminist issues in family therapy. In the first two chapters, the editors place feminist family therapy within its historical context and discuss some of its classic texts. Other topics include, for example, loyalty to family of origin, gender in stepfamilies, the assessment of domestic violence, and feminism in the treatment of AIDS. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

Women, Feminism and Family Therapy encourages sensitivity to feminist perspectives and challenges many traditional notions held by therapists, clients, and society. One of the few guides that takes into account feminist ideals and the changing status of women in society, this provocative new book explores a feminist approach to theory, clinical applications, training, and supervision in family therapy. Topics in this exciting and though-provoking book include women in alcoholic families, women and abuse in the family context, lesbian daughters and mothers, and women and eating disorders. Editor Lois Braverman and the other expert contributors are practicing psychotherapists who have struggled with the problems of integrating a feminist perspective with the practice of family therapy. Their discussions--both theoretical and practical in scope--provide professionals with actual treament interventions, as well as a frank discussion of theoretical dilemmas.

Although feminist family therapy has been gaining recognition and followers in recent years, little is known about the variety of experiences, philosophies, and private learnings of feminist practitioners. Reflections on Feminist Family Therapy Training utilizes first-person accounts, theory, and commentary to explore the challenges feminist teachers and practitioners face and the aspects of their practice that are seldom considered. Readers of Reflections on Feminist Family Therapy Training acquire effective teaching strategies and a sensitivity to the intersection of cultural diversity and feminism. Students are introduced to several contextual factors that shape personal and professional experiences, as well as techniques that address predictable patterns of behavior and attitudes toward feminist family therapy in a variety of settings. The book presents innovative ideas and strategies from experienced trainers for tolerating, working with, and resolving gaps between theory and practice and for confronting hostility or tension within specific institutional contexts. Aimed at building bridges between teachers and practitioners of family therapy from a feminist perspective, Reflections on Feminist Family Therapy Training explores and helps you answer the following questions: What similarities and differences exist between American and European feminist family therapists? What special challenges does the feminist therapist face in a conventional training institute? Does a feminist or liberal context attend adequately to the needs of the multicultural student body? How does a trainer’s national standing or tenure status promote or harm her freedom to practice openly in a specifically feminist way? What new directions and opportunities exist for feminist family therapists? Reflections on Feminist Family Therapy Training looks at the difficulties women practitioners face in convincing family therapy to recognize the significance of gender as a variable factor. In doing so, it offers specific classroom applications and general approaches to the feminist task of getting unheard and repressed voices acknowledged. Finally, the book outlines future directions for expanding and improving feminist-informed training and for giving it a more central and integrated position in the curricula.

Women, Feminism and Family Therapy encourages sensitivity to feminist perspectives and challenges many traditional notions held by therapists, clients, and society. One of the few guides that takes into account feminist ideals and the changing status of women in society, this provocative new book explores a feminist approach to theory, clinical applications, training, and supervision in family therapy. Topics in this exciting and though-provoking book include women in alcoholic families, women and abuse in the family context, lesbian daughters and mothers, and women and eating disorders. Editor Lois Braverman and the other expert contributors are practicing psychotherapists who have struggled with the problems of integrating a feminist perspective with the practice of family therapy. Their discussions--both theoretical and practical in scope--provide professionals with actual treament interventions, as well as a frank discussion of theoretical dilemmas.

A feminist psychological perspective on the treatment of battered women partners is taken by this volume, which offers a challenge to traditional family therapy intervention in family violence. Experts on legal, ethical and practical issues propose alternatives to the family systems approach and address key areas such as: the psychological state of women who remain in violent relationships; current laws governing family violence; training therapists to recognize family violence; multiethnic perspectives on the problem; and the impact of abusive parental relationships on children. Specific guidelines for individual work with victims are also presented.

An inside look at the unique challenges of the lesbian experience Lesbian Families' Challenges and Means of Resiliency: Implications for Feminist Family Therapy is a unique collection of interdisciplinary feminist examinations of the resiliency of lesbian couples and families. Leading feminist researchers and clinicians discuss parenting within lesbian families, with a focus on personal resiliency. These thought-provoking and insightful articles address the challenges of having and raising children in a society that struggles to accept alternative family structures. Lesbian Families' Challenges and Means of Resiliency examines a wide range of issues facing lesbian couples, with a special focus on parenting and couple violence. The book's contributors examine the unique challenges of lesbian and gay parenting; adversities facing lesbian parents and the coping methods they employ; violence among lesbian couples and the lesbian community's response to domestic violence; and the application of feminist theory to validate, strengthen, and promote resiliency in lesbian couples. The book also includes interviews with single or partnered lesbians who had children through adoption, artificial insemination, or a previous relationship. Topics examined in Lesbian Families' Challenges and Means of Resiliency include: parenting artificial insemination lesbian family therapy family law couple violence lesbian community feminist research feminist couple therapy and much more Lesbian Families' Challenges and Means of Resiliency is a vital professional aid for psychotherapists, family therapists, psychologists, social workers, and counselors. It's an equally valuable resource for academics working in family studies, women's studies, queer studies, gender studies, and sociology.

This book is the first of its kind to address the treatment of men in marital and family therapy from a political or feminist perspective. Feminist Approaches for Men in Family Therapy is an important and provocative addition to the field of family therapy and psychotherapy and works to deepen the understanding of men by using more traditional approaches. Timely and relevant to today’s interest in men’s issues, this book develops and demonstrates applications of treatment methods in straightforward prose from a variety of family therapy models. These techniques and methods enable anyone working with men--beginning and advanced clinicians, regardless of clinical preference or loyalty--to have a more effective practice with men. Truly reflecting its title, this provocative volume offers new ways of conceptualizing male development and the dilemmas of men in therapy, while providing exemplars of the wide range of clinical work this perspective enriches. Chapters concisely summarize the major benefits and limitations of conventional approaches to treating men and provide beginning conceptualizations of treatment issues with men that are grounded in social theory, sensitivity to power issues and the social context, and shifting cultural definitions of masculinity, femininity, and the nature of marriage. Other chapters employ the exciting and germane concepts of social constructionism to analyze belief systems about men and how cultural ideals shape and limit the personal development of men. An ideal resource for all therapists striving for excellence in treating men.