The Handbook of Disability-Affirmative Systemic Therapy

This comprehensive handbook provides therapists, social workers, educators, and mental health professionals with effective clinical interventions for working affirmatively with disabled clients and their families. Using an intersectional and strengths-based perspective, Manasi Shankar brings together interdisciplinary experts to outline the history of the disability community in the United States, their resultant experiences, and best practices in clinically affirmative care. Chapters are authored by disabled scholars, marriage and family therapists, disability activists, and researchers to amplify the voices of disabled experts. Topics include models of disability, ableism, disability in older populations, sexuality, disability and persons of color, moving toward the critical role of marriage and family therapists and the ways they can integrate affirmative approaches into their work. Filled with case vignettes, this handbook offers clinical applications of treatment strategies as well as pedagogical features for educators to supervise and instruct graduate students in working with disabled clients in therapy. This book aims to inspire therapists to incorporate disability dialogue into clinical practice, deconstructing the fragmentation of disability as outside the scope of marriage and family therapy (MFT). This text is an essential reading for graduate and licensed marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, counselors, and educators in MFT, counseling, and psychology. About the Artist Mariam Paré became a quadriplegic after surviving an act of gun violence at the age of 20. Determined to pursue her passion for art, she relearned how to paint by holding brushes with her mouth, evolving into a distinguished visual artist and mouth-painter. With over two decades of creative experience, Paré is known for her exceptional mouth-painting technique and compelling multimedia works that often explore the disability experience. She is also a proud member of the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists Worldwide. www.mfpausa.com www.mariampare.com About the Cover Artwork Portraits of Spinal Cord Injury: Oppo (2023) Watercolor on paper 8" x 8" Painted by mouth Image Credit "By courtesy of the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists Worldwide."

Manasi Shankar, Ph.D., is a clinician, educator, and scholar who specializes in disability-affirmative systemic therapy. She is the founder of Therapy at Bay - a private practice based in the San Francisco Bay area - and provides national and international training on systemic therapy with disabled clients and families.

Section I: History, Law & the Sociopolitical Context of Disability 1. "he printed his name with his right hand *" Steven T. Licardi, LCSW 2. An Overview of the History of Disability in the United States Megan C. Carlos, Ph.D. 3. Disability and the Law: Challenges and Opportunities in the U.S. Legal System Solomon Furious Worlds, J.D. and Ellis Scout Cliff 4. Human Variation: Disability Models Explained Angélica Guevara, Ph.D. 5. Ableism within Academia: Impact on the Lives of Disabled Persons Rhoda Olkin, Ph.D. Section II: Contextualizing Disability Through an Intersectional Lens 6. "Total Blindness" Catlin Hernandez 7. The Intersection of Older Adulthood, Mental Health, and Disability Pamela B. Teaster, Ph.D., and Onyinye F Mbanefo, M.S. 8. The Intersection of Race and Disability: Redefining Inclusive Therapeutic Practice Angélica Guevara, Ph.D. 9. Intersecting Identities: Supporting 2SLGBTQ+ Disabled People Alan Santinele Martino, Ph.D., Melissa Miller, Jordan Parks, and Eleni Moumos Section III: Foundations of Disability-Affirmative Therapy 10. "Becoming Dyslexic" Catherine Kapphahn 11. Thinking Psychoanalytically about Therapy with Disabled People: The Need to Begin with Ourselves Brian Watermeyer, Ph.D. 12. The Counteractive Value of Disability Affirmative Therapy: How Well-meaning Assumptions ("I don't see disability") Impacts Disabled Clients Katy Evans and Mel Halacre Kami L. Gallus Ph.D., LMFT, Jennifer L. Jones, Ph.D., Garrett M. Jones, and Natalie M. Richardson, Ph.D., LMFT 14. Couples Therapy with Disabled Partners: Integrating Disability into Relational Practice Rebecca Kammes, Ph.D., LMFT, Madeline Barger, LMFT, and Debra L. Miller, Ph.D., LCSW 15. Disability-Affirmative Family Therapy (Part I): Historical Foundations and Philosophical Assumptions Manasi Shankar, Ph.D., LPCC, NCC 16. Disability-Affirmative Family Therapy (Part II): Clinical Applications Manasi Shankar, Ph.D., LPCC, NCC 17. Accessible Therapy Spaces: Looking Beyond Infrastructure Toni Saia, Ph.D., CRC and Gabrielle Ficchi Ph.D., LPC, LPCS, CRC Section IV: Clinical Supervision and Program Development 18. "I am." Pramod Shankar 19. Addressing The Missing Piece: Developing Inclusive Programmatic Structures, Modules, and Coursework Brittany A. Williams, Ph.D., LCPC, NCC, Derek, X. Seward, Ph.D., LMHC, NCC, and Kahyen Shin 20. Multi-disciplinary Collaboration, Representation, and Ethical Research of Disability Experiences Lydia Qualls, Ph.D., Lyndon Frommer, and Ashley Shew, Ph.D. 21. Clinical Supervision of Disability-Specific Cases Shakeela Gray, LGPC, NCC, Brittany A. Williams Ph.D., LCPC, NCC, and Briana Gaines, Ph.D., LPC, CCTP 22. Disability Justice and the Person-of-the-Therapist Framework James Tillett, Ph.D., Jody Russon, Ph.D., and Shalini Srinivasan, M.A.