September / October 2023 Volume 22, No. 5

Smile Through the Pain: The Complexities of Narratives about Mental Health in the Black Community

The perception of mental health in the Black community is multifaceted. There are systemic challenges related to mental health that continue to stand as a barrier to receiving mental health services. Some of these barriers include accessibility of culturally competent providers, cost and/or lack of insurance to see a provider, and historical and present discriminatory [...]

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September / October 2023 Volume 22, No. 5

Culturally Informed Emotionally Focused Therapy with African American Couples

Approximately one-third of African American couples in the United States are married. However, research indicates this population tends to experience higher rate of divorce, martial dissatisfaction, and single-parent households, when compared to other racial groups (St. Vil et al., 2019). One may ask, what patterns are we seeing with African American couples that lead to [...]

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September / October 2023 Volume 22, No. 5

Helping Black Women Heal Through a Womanist Mental Health and Healing Framework

Helping to heal What does mental well-being and healing look like for black women? How do we as clinicians support the mental health and healing of strong black women? I posture that a Womanist Mental Health and Healing Framework (Melton, 2022) can uniquely address these critical questions. Clinical psychologist Carmen B. Williams (2005) argues that [...]

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July / August 2023 Volume 22, No. 4

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: The Evolution of Family Therapy in Schools

Yesterday Since we began to achieve licensure in the US over 30 years ago, the profession of marriage and family therapy has grown in several areas. Five years ago, AAMFT created several topical interest groups to stimulate and track the growth of marriage and family practice in traditional mental health as well as new domains. [...]

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July / August 2023 Volume 22, No. 4

Every Student Succeeds with MFTs

Historically, marriage and family therapists (MFTs) have not been contracted or hired by school districts to provide therapeutic services to children (Cooper-Haber & Haber, 2015). However, in 2018, approximately 3.5 million adolescents received mental health services in education settings (U.S. Department of Education, 2021). Of those 3.5 million receiving services, adolescents from low-income households, public [...]

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May / June 2023 Volume 22, No. 3

Essential Considerations: Medical Family Therapists’ Approach with Native Americans

It is a privilege to work as a medical family therapist (MedFT) at the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic. “Medical family therapy is a form of professional practice that uses the biopsychosocial model and systemic family therapy principles in the collaborative treatment of individuals and families dealing with medical problems” (McDaniel, 2014, p. 9). Additionally, research [...]

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May / June 2023 Volume 22, No. 3

Suffering In Silence: The Invisible Minority and How MFTs Can Help

As an MFT, you arrive in your office and begin an intake session with a new client. You see a woman in front of you. She tells you that she is in a relationship and feels that she doesn’t have much power in it. She tells you that she has made compromises in her relationship, [...]

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May / June 2023 Volume 22, No. 3

Native American Behavioral Health Challenges

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the current total population of Native Americans in the United States is 6.79 million, about 2.09% of the population (2023). There are about 574 federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States (World Population Review, 2023). Agencies like the U.S. Indian Health Service (IHS) aim for maximum tribal [...]

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March / April 2023 Volume 22, No. 2

Helping Survivors of Suicide

Debra and Keith* were back in my office, still trying to decide what to do. She was highly distressed over their marriage; he was equally confused about her distress. After several agonizing months of back-and-forth in both individual and marital therapy, she concluded the only way to move forward was alone. The reasons she provided [...]

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March / April 2023 Volume 22, No. 2

Coping with the Loss of a Client

Grief and loss can be a challenging topic to discuss for most; words do not bring back the loved one who was lost. Those who surround you may be extra cautious not to bring up memories or topics for fear of triggering you or causing you emotional pain. This, in turn, creates a vicious cycle [...]

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