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Overcoming Challenges & Enhancing Care for Neurodiverse Families: A Guide for Marriage and Family Therapists
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a multifaceted neurodevelopmental condition that affects a child’s social interactions, communication skills, and behavior. Its complexity is reflected in the wide range of symptoms and severity levels it encompasses. Recent statistics show a significant increase in ASD prevalence, with approximately 1 in every 36 children in the U.S. now diagnosed with the disorder.
Chrystal N. McDowell, PhD
The Integration of Play Therapy for Children Diagnosed with an Intellectual or Developmental Disability
Carlos, a six-year-old Hispanic American diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, is primarily non-verbal. At the age of two, he was removed from his home due to abuse and neglect linked to his parents’ substance use. Carlos and his four siblings, all diagnosed with varying levels of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), suffered from severe neglect, often being locked in a bedroom.
Trent Call, PhD
Building Bridges: Couples’ Strategies for Thriving with Autism in the Family
Parents of autistic children face multiple stressors that affect various aspects of a family’s daily life. The difficulties of raising a child with autism can emerge well before an official diagnosis and persist throughout the family’s life. Navigating parenthood can become more challenging with a diagnosis of autism due to new emotional challenges, managing behavioral issues, caregiving demands, school-related pressures, financial strain, and lack of adequate support.
Justin Romney, PhD & Allison Montgomery, MSCFT
Systemic World
Embracing New Territories: The Journey of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) in Kenya
It is well-documented that satisfactory intimate relationships are essential to human health; they serve as vital resources that enhance the general resilience of people and their ability to navigate physical and emotional challenges. Conversely, distressed, or unsatisfactory intimate relationships strain both psychological and physical health and are sources of severe psychological distress.
Michelle Karume, DMFT, Ronald Asiimwe, PhD, Rehema Nyambura Gathumbi, MFT, & Mark Maxwell, PsyD
NEWS FROM AAMFT
Departments
Special To The Issue
What Is Agricultural Behavioral Health?
In 2017, I incorporated my own family therapy and consulting firm dedicated to serving the mental health and behavioral health needs of the farming community. It was never my intention to start a consulting business, but as there were no job listings for a farm-therapist, I found myself organizing a consulting firm. I would later discover the agricultural organizations that specialize in agricultural healthcare, but agricultural behavioral health was still developing.
Roberta Bellamy, PhD
Perspectives
From Compassion Satisfaction to Burnout: How MFTs Can Support Caring Professionals
Burnout is increasingly prevalent within caring professions. It is characterized by lacking a sense of personal accomplishment, depersonalization, and emotional exhaustion from high-stress work environments. This is a far-reaching issue, but improvements in access to mental healthcare for caring professionals are minimal.
Julie Payne, DMFT, Alison Vartanian & Julia Sampson
Perspectives
Shifting Worldviews on Excessive Technology Use with Systemic Approaches
In today’s digital landscape, the pervasive presence of technology brings unique challenges to family dynamics, necessitating a reevaluation of traditional norms and values. As a therapist specializing in marriage and family dynamics, I’ve witnessed firsthand the profound impact of excessive technology use on familial relationships.
Ezra Lockhart, PhD
Perspectives
Weight Loss Medicine Isn’t Enough: Tackling Anti-fatness as a Systemic Therapist
Anti-fatness is a pervasive function of society. It dwells in the outermost layer of society’s systems and encroaches on each inner level, carefully harming everyone along the way. By the time people with larger bodies encounter explicit anti-fatness face-to-face, they have already accrued the brunt of implicit anti-fatness that has increased their marginalization.
Emani Sullivan, MS, Karlynn Sievers, MD & Tonya Cook, PharmD
Perspectives
Reimagining Resistance: An Invitation for a Systemic Exploration in MFT Supervision
The construct of resistance is frequently discussed during marriage and family therapy, yet it is often addressed without being located in a systems-oriented framework.
Danna Abraham, PhD & Afarin Rajaei, PhD
Perspectives
Neuronutrition: An Introduction to an Important and Complex Topic
The field of neuronutrition is an ever-evolving holistic, integrative, and interdisciplinary field of study.
Jerrod Brown, PhD, Bettye Sue Hennington, PhD, Tiffany Flaten, MEd, Jeremiah Schimp, PhD, & Jennifer Sweeton, PsyD
Perspectives
Embodiment & Equine Therapy: Anorexia Nervosa
Equine therapy helps develop mindfulness in clients as “horses are masters of being in the moment.” Mindfulness brings us into the here and now, so that we are truly able to show up and be in the moment.
Jennifer Cahill, MBA
A Message From the President
Greetings AAMFT members! I hope all enjoyed a restful, fun, and productive summer! This was a particularly hot summer in most areas of the contiguous United States (if not all over the globe!) and I hope everyone remained safe and cool.
Silvia Kaminsky, MSEd
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FTM is a connector to and from diverse family therapy practice, policy, supervision, and research leaders.
—Angela Lamson, PhD, LMFT
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With cutting-edge and relevant articles, the FTM is the place I find practical systemic information.
—DeAnna Harris-McKoy, PhD
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The magazine is great because it shows what other remarkable things my fellow colleagues are doing in the field.
—Sheldon Jacobs, PsyD, LMFT