Socioculturally Attuned Family Therapy: Applying Third Order Thinking to Theory and Practice

Socioculturally Attuned Family Therapy, third edition, is a fully updated and essential textbook that addresses the need for marriage and family therapists to engage in socially responsible practice by infusing third order thinking throughout theory and clinical practice.

Written by leaders in the field, this book explores why sociocultural attunement and equity matter, providing students and clinicians with integrative guidelines and case illustrations applicable to practice. The authors integrate principles of societal context, power, and equity into 11 major family therapy models: Structural, Strategic, Experiential, Attachment, Narrative, Solution-focused, Collaborative, Cognitive Behavioral, Contextual, Bowen Family Systems, and Socio-emotional Relationship Therapy. Updates feature diverse voices describing creative applications of this framework, a new chapter on socioculturally attuned assessment, and expanded content on contemporary social issues such as social isolation, individualism, social inequities, and polarization.

This textbook remains essential reading for family therapists, counselors, social workers, and psychologists, as well as educators and supervisors wanting to apply a critical consciousness and third order thinking to their clinical and community work.

Teresa McDowell, EdD, is a professor emerita of marriage and family therapy and former department chair in Lewis & Clark’s Graduate School of Education and Counseling. She is a licensed marriage and family therapist who currently serves as a social researcher, program evaluator, private consultant, and professional educator.

Carmen Knudson-Martin, PhD, is a professor emerita of marriage and family therapy at Lewis & Clark’s Graduate School of Education and Counseling. She is an AAMFT clinical fellow, approved supervisor, and licensed marriage and family therapist. She is a founder of Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy (SERT), which addresses the political and ethical implications of therapist actions on personal and relational development.

J. Maria Bermudez, PhD, is an associate professor of couple and family therapy program and human development and family science at the University of Georgia. She is an AAMFT clinical fellow and approved supervisor, and a practicing licensed marriage and family therapist. Her work is anchored in feminist-informed and culturally responsive approaches to therapy, research, community activism, and supervision.