Minorities and Family Therapy

Minorities and Family Therapy highlights the work of experienced, sensitive clinicians who, along with minority families, have found creative solutions to the problems minority families present. Until now, the field of family therapy has paid little attention to the specific clinical needs and strengths of minority families. Without sufficient exploration and training, family therapists risk treating minority families from a narrow, incomplete perspective, filtering out their inner resources, values, legacies, history, and wisdom, and underestimating the influence of the social settings in which they live. This unique and highly valuable book explores how systems-oriented clinicians presently work with ethnic and racial minority families. The chapters cover a wide range of clinical issues including pitfalls of misunderstanding and discrimination, innovative strategies for treating drug abuse and AIDS, and skills needed in caring for particular minority groups, such as Native Americans, blacks, Latinos, and Asian Americans. The authors go beyond simply spelling out cultural similarities and differences. They provide clear, clinical suggestions to be applied in family and community contexts. Not just another book on ethnicity, Minorities and Family Therapy looks at families who, because of their race and cultural background, have had to struggle with racism, discrimination, limited access to health care, economic bankruptcy, and educational barriers. Written for family therapists and health care providers who work with minority families and look for creative alternatives to improve their care, this landmark volume is a celebration of the strengths that minority families demonstrate in coping with long-term adversity.