Decolonizing Family Systems, Relationships, and Practices

Centering liberation, justice, and cultural wisdom in the heart of relational work, this book provides a comprehensive and integrative examination of human development and the family life cycle through a decolonized, anti-racist, and intersectional lens.

Jennifer M. Sampson, PhD, LMFT, CST-S, is an educator, systemic clinician, AASECT Certified Sex Therapist and Supervisor, and AAMFT Approved Supervisor. Fiona E. O'Farrell, PhD, LMFT, CST-S, is the Program Director of the Marriage and Family Therapy program at Pacific Lutheran University, an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist and Supervisor, and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor.

Introduction: Breaking the Jar: Decolonizing Family Therapy from the Inside Out Part I: Unpacking Origins: Decolonizing the Foundations of Family Therapy 1. Breaking the Colonial Frame: Power, Privilege, and Family Therapy 2. From Pathology to Liberation: Decolonizing Family Well-Being 3. Beyond the Binary: Decolonizing Gender, Sexuality, and Family Development 4. Family Therapy in the Era of AI: Will Technology Advance or Erase Indigenous & Non-Western Practices? Part 2: Decolonizing Life Cycle Narratives -Systemic Intersections in Family Development 5. Goodbye Birds and the Bees: How Systemic Therapists Can Use a Reproductive Justice Framework to Rethink Family Building 6. Rethinking Childhood: Neurovariance, Cultural Strengths & Decolonialized Development Perspectives 7. Grieving in the Wake of Colonialism: Using Creative Arts to Explore, Process, and Integrate Bio-Psycho-Social-Cultural Perspectives of Loss and Grief Across the Lifespan Part 3. Beyond Therapy - Collective Healing, Advocacy & Alternative Knowledge Systems 8. Liberating Love: Rewriting the Fairytale and Expanding Relationship Norms 9. Agency-Centered Relational Therapy: Decolonizing Healing & Relationship Work 10. How Family Therapy Knowledge is Made and The World it Makes: Nonprofit Practice, Capitalism, and The Politics of Knowledge Conclusion