Thank You

In a recent interview, Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, stated, "When you're in a situation like this, you do anything you can (2020).” He also stated, "We've been around 117 years. We were the arsenal of democracy during two World Wars, we built iron lungs for polio victims. Whenever we're called on, [...]

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To the Class of 2020

Late one night before this was due, I paused for a moment to process what the last two years have put me through. Outside, police sirens blared, and though I was angry, my mind I knew I must calm in order to clearly make this poem tell all My first semester was an adjustment, that [...]

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Breaking the Codes of Silence: Interracial Couples in Therapy

One in 10 married couples are interracial in the U.S., representing an increase of 30% since 2000 (Pew Research Center, 2017). Further, 21% of gay and lesbian unmarried couples are of different races (The Williams Institute, 2019). Are couples therapists ready to deliver services to this growing population? Considering the salience of skin color in [...]

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“Academia was not created with me in mind.” Examining MFT Programs and Systemic Racism

Faculty of color are disproportionately underrepresented in higher education in that white faculty and students of color greatly outnumber faculty of color. While colleges and universities across America have seen increased growth in diverse students attending college, there appears to be an imbalance in representation of racially diverse faculty. The National Center for Education Statistics [...]

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Why Aren’t There Any MFT Programs at Historically Black Colleges or Universities?

Expanding the Reach of MFT Education and Training As an alumna of Tougaloo College, one of the oldest Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in Mississippi, I have first-hand knowledge of the power and potential that are bred on the sacred grounds of these necessary institutions across the nation. HBCUs are defined as institutions of [...]

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Our Role as Systemic Therapists in Dismantling Systemic Racism

Are we partially responsible for the oppression of Black People? Often, when we discuss systemic racism, we speak of the fundamental underpinnings of the U.S. that have been intentionally set up for the failure of Black people within the criminal justice system, education, employment, and the health system. More recently, society has sharply focused their [...]

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“This Ish is Exhausting”: Acknowledging the Emotional Labor of Black MFTs

This is meant to be a love letter to Black MFTs continuing the fight inside and outside the therapy room. I want to offer words of encouragement and how we can continue to sustain ourselves during this time. When your client looks like you Over the last few weeks, I have experienced issues of role [...]

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How the Death of a Child Can Impact a Marriage

As our community copes with the emotional fallout of living through the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of families are suffering from various forms of loss. Married couples are under more stress and strain due to the loss of a job, illness, or the death of a family member. The death of a child is one of [...]

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Racial Justice

therapy talk We owe it to ourselves, and to the families and communities we serve, to work for racial justice not just at the ballot box on election day, but in our everyday interactions. Our privilege gives us voice in the larger culture. Speaking up is one of the most important ways we can use [...]

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Barriers to Incarcerated Parenting and How MFTs Can Help

Every year, about 1.9 million children in the United States have a parent in a state or federal prison (Davis & Shlafer, 2017). Alarmingly, children of incarcerated parents struggle with a variety of problems that could have implications on their adulthood lives. For example, 70% of children with incarcerated parents have emotional or psychological disorders, [...]

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