Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Cultural Competency in Couple and Family Therapy

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy

Name of Entry

Cultural Competency in Couple and Family Therapy

Synonyms

Contextual factors; Cultural attunement; Cultural awareness; Cultural consciousness; Cultural humility; Cultural literacy; Cultural multidimensionality; Cultural responsiveness; Cultural sensitivity; Diversity; Intersectionality and social justice; Multicultural perspective

Introduction

Over the past four decades, the field of Couple and Family Therapy (CFT) has attempted to move from a broader focus of gender and cultural awareness to a more specific emphasis on ways to train clinicians and researchers to focus on particular groupings such as gender (e.g., females), race (The authors distinguish and present the categories of race and ethnicity as separate but related concepts. Race is categorized as the phenotypic presentation of one’s skin color and ethnicity as a cultural heritage of one’s ancestry. Although the classification of individuals on the basis of external markers (racial categorization) has been...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Allen-Wilson, A. (2016). Integrating and addressing religion and spirituality in supervision and training. In K. V. Hardy & T. Bobes (Eds.), Culturally sensitive supervision and training: Diverse perspectives and practical applications (pp. 57–64). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Awosan, C. I., Sandberg, J. G., & Hall, C. A. (2011). Understanding the experience of Black clients in marriage and family therapy. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 37(2), 153–168.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beitin, B. K., & Allen, K. R. (2005). Resilience in Arab American couples after September 11, 2001: A systems perspective. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 31(3), 251–267.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bernal, G., & Domenech-Rodriguez, M. M. (2009). Advances in Latino family research: Cultural adaptations of evidence based interventions. Family Process, 48(2), 169–178.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, A. C. (2000). Straight therapists working with lesbians and gays in family therapy. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 26, 443–454.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Christiansen, A. T., Thomas, V., Kafescioglu, N., Karakurt, G., Lowe, W., Smith, W., & Wittenborn, A. (2011). Multicultural supervision: Lessons learned about an ongoing struggle. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 37(1), 109–119.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coolhart, D., Baker, A., Farmer, S., Malaney, M., & Shipman, D. (2013). Therapy with transsexual youth and their families: A clinical tool for assessing youth’s readiness for gender transition. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 39(2), 223–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daneshpour, M. (2017). Family therapy with Muslims. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dee Watts Jones, T. (2016). Location of self in training and supervision. In K. V. Hardy & T. Bobes (Eds.), Culturally sensitive supervision and training: Diverse perspectives and practical applications (pp. 16–24). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doherty, W. J., & Baptiste, D. A. (1993). Theories emerging from family therapy. In P. Boss, W. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. Schumm, & S. Steinmets (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach (pp. 505–524). New York: Plenum.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Esmiol, E. E., Knudson-Martin, C., & Delgado, S. (2012). Developing a contextual consciousness: Learning to address gender, societal power, and culture in clinical practice. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 38(4), 573–588.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goldenberg, H., & Goldenberg, I. (2013). Family therapy: An overview. California: Cengage Learning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, J. R. (2003). When therapists do not want their clients to be homosexual: A response to Rosilk’s article. Journal of Marriage and Family Therapy, 29, 31–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardy, K. V. (1989). The theoretical myth of sameness: A critical issue in family therapy training and treatment. Journal of Psychotherapy & the Family, 6(1-2), 17–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardy, K. V. (2016). Toward the development of a multicultural relational perspective on training and supervision. In K. V. Hardy & T. Bobes (Eds.), Culturally sensitive supervision and training: Diverse perspective and practical applications (pp. 3–10). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardy, K. V., & Bobes, T. (Eds.). (2016). Culturally sensitive supervision and training: Diverse perspectives and practical applications. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardy, K. V., & Laszloffy, T. A. (1992). Training racially sensitive family therapists: Context, content, and contact. Families in Society. The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, 73, 364–370.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardy, K. V., & Laszloffy, T. A. (1995). The cultural genogram: Key to training culturally competent family therapists. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 21(3), 227–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardy, K. V., & Laszloffy, T. A. (2002). Couple therapy using a multicultural perspective. In A. S. Gurman & Jacobson (Eds.), Clinical handbook of couple therapy (pp. 569–593). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardy, K. V., Hernandez, A. M., & Awosan, C. I. (2016). Making the invisible visible: A closer look at social class in supervision and training. In K. V. Hardy & T. Bobes (Eds.), Culturally sensitive supervision and training: Diverse perspectives and practical applications (pp. 35–42). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hargrave, T. D., & Pfitzer, F. (2003). The new contextual therapy: Guiding the power of give and take. New York: Brunner-Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hudak, J., & Giammattei, S. V. (2010). Doing family: Decentering heteronormativity in “marriage” and “family” therapy. American Family Therapy Academy, 6, 49–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Killian, K. D. (2001). Differences making a difference: Cross-cultural interactions in supervisory relationships. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 12(2–3), 61–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lappin, J., & Hardy, K. V. (2002). Keeping context in view: The heart of supervision. In T. C. Todd & C. L. Storm (Eds.), The complete systemic supervisor: Context, philosophy, and pragmatics (pp. 41–58). Lincoln: Authors Choice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laszloffy, T., & Habekost, J. (2010). Using experiential tasks to enhance cultural sensitivity among MFT trainees. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 36(3), 333–346.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laszloffy, T. A., & Hardy, K. V. (2000). Uncommon strategies for a common problem: Addressing racism in family therapy. Family Process, 39(1), 35–50.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McDowell, T., & Shelton, D. (2002). Valuing ideas of social justice in MFT curricula. Contemporary Family Therapy, 24, 313–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGeorge, C., & Stone Carlson, T. (2011). Deconstructing heterosexism: Becoming an LGB affirmative heterosexual couple and family therapist. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 37(1), 14–26.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McGeorge, C., Stone, C. T., Erickson, M. J., & Guttormson, H. E. (2006). Creating and evaluating a feminist-informed social justice couple and family therapy training model. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 18, 1–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGoldrick, M., & Hardy, K. V. (Eds.). (2008). Re-visioning family therapy: Race, culture, and gender in clinical practice (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGoldrick, M., Pearce, J. K., & Giordano, J. (1982). Ethnicity and family therapy. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nixon, D. H., Marcelle-Coney, D., Torres-Gregory, M., Huntley, E., Jacques, C., Pasquet, M., & Ravachi, R. (2010). Creating community: Offering a liberation pedagogical model to facilitate diversity conversations in MFT graduate classrooms. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 36(2), 197–210.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Parra-Cardona, J. R., Holtrop, K., Cordova, D., Escobar-Chew, A. R., Horsford, S., Tams, L., et al. (2009). “Queremos aprender”: Latino immigrants’ call to integrate cultural adaptation with best practice knowledge in a parenting intervention. Family Process, 48(2), 211–231.

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Platt, J. J., & Laszloffy, T. A. (2013). Critical patriotism: Incorporating nationality into MFT education and training. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 39(4), 441–456.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rastogi, M., & Thomas, V. (2009). Multicultural couple therapy. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rastogi, M., & Wieling, E. (2005). Voices of color. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rock, M., Carlson, T. S., & McGeorge, C. R. (2010). Does affirmative training matter? Assessing CFT students’ beliefs about sexual orientation and their level of affirmative training. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 36(2), 171–184.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schomburg, A. M., & Prieto, L. R. (2011). Trainee multicultural case conceptualization ability and couple therapy. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 37(2), 223–235.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seedall, R. B., Holtrop, K., & Parra-Cardona, J. R. (2014). Diversity, social justice and intersectionality trends in C/MFT: A content analysis of three family therapy journals, 2004-2011. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 40(2), 139–151.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seponski, D. M., Bermudez, J. M., & Lewis, D. C. (2013). Creating culturally responsive family therapy models and research: Introducing the use of responsive evaluation as a method. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 39(1), 28–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stone Fish, L., & Harvey, R. G. (2005). Nurturing queer youth: Family therapy transformed. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sue, D. W., Arredondo, P., & McDavis, R. J. (1992). Multicultural counseling competencies and standards: A call to the profession. Journal of Counseling & Development, 70(4), 477–486.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Todd, T. C., & Rastogi, M. (2014). Listening to supervisees about problems in systemic supervision. In T. C. Todd & C. L. Storm (Eds.), The complete systemic supervisor: Philosophy, context and pragmatics (2nd ed., pp. 314–334). Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walters, M., Carter, B., Papp, P., & Silverstein, O. (1991). The invisible web: Gender patterns in family relationships. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, W. F. (2016). Supervision in black and white: Navigating cross-racial interactions in the supervisory process. In K. V. Hardy & T. Bobes (Eds.), Culturally sensitive supervision and training: Diverse perspectives and practical applications (pp. 43–49). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wieling, E., & Rastogi, M. (2003). Voices of marriage and family therapists of color: An exploratory survey. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 15(1), 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, USA

    Christiana I. Awosan

  2. Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Yajaira S. Curiel

  3. Illinois School of Professional Psychology, Argosy University, Schaumburg, IL, USA

    Mudita Rastogi

Authors
  1. Christiana I. Awosan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yajaira S. Curiel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mudita Rastogi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christiana I. Awosan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Jay Lebow

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Anthony Chambers

  3. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Douglas C. Breunlin

Section Editor information

  1. Illinois School of Professional Psychology, Argosy University, Schaumburg, IL, USA

    Mudita Rastogi Ph.D.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Awosan, C.I., Curiel, Y.S., Rastogi, M. (2018). Cultural Competency in Couple and Family Therapy. In: Lebow, J., Chambers, A., Breunlin, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_472-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_472-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation