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Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy pp 1–4Cite as

Heterosexism in Couple and Family Therapy

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Synonyms

Antihomosexual prejudice; Heteronormativity; Heterosexual privilege; Homophobia

Introduction

Heterosexism refers to systematic preference and privilege given to heterosexual individuals and the stigmatizing impact that this has on sexual minority groups (Ritter and Turndrup 2002; McGeorge and Carlson 2011). The term heterosexism highlights the similarities in the oppression that is experienced by sexual minority groups and other minority groups such as women or people of color (McGeorge and Carlson 2011; Ritter and Turndrup 2002). Furthermore, heterosexism describes the processes which oppress those who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) while providing privilege to those who identify as heterosexual (McGeorge and Carlson 2011; Ritter and Turndrup 2002). Heterosexism is important to examine in the context of couple and family therapy to ensure that LGB clients have access to supportive and nondiscriminatory mental health services. To provide quality care to...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marriage and Family Therapy Program, Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Amy D. Smith, Natasha Seiter & Kelley Quirk

Authors
  1. Amy D. Smith
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  2. Natasha Seiter
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  3. Kelley Quirk
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amy D. Smith .

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. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Kelley Quirk Ph.D.

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Adam R. Fisher Ph.D.

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© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

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Smith, A.D., Seiter, N., Quirk, K. (2018). Heterosexism 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_897-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_897-1

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  • 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

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