Synopses & Reviews
Presenting an accessible and original framework for thinking about multiculturalism in therapy, this comprehensive volume provides valuable insights and strategies for therapists working with Latino families. Practitioners and students gain awareness of specific clincial issues, family dynamics, and sociopolitical realities that are frequently shared by Latino clients, while at the same time learning to avoid stereotypical assessments that rob families of their individual histories and choices. Filled with evocative case illustrations and clinical pointers, the book represents an important contribution to culturally sensitive psychotherapy practice.
Review
"Innumerable families, particularly those from poor and working-class backgrounds, encounter therapists whose repertoires of explanatory hypotheses do not effectively take multicultural considerations into account. The result is widespread therapeutic failure. This book will help bring about necessary change. Packed with illuminating case examples, it offers a practical theory of pluralistic therapy that is applicable well beyond the treatment of Latino families alone. Falicov has made a unique and significant contribution to the education of all mental health and healthcare providers and students." --Braulio Montalvo, MA, School of Social Work, Highlands University
"Latino Families in Therapy sets a new standard for books about culture and therapy. This book is not only richly informative about Latino cultures; it also teaches us how to look at culture in therapy with a new level of sophistication. I cannot recommend it highly enough." --Harry J. Aponte, MSW, author of Bread and Spirit
"Bravo! Celia Jaes Falicov has written the definitive treatise about Latinos in therapy. Weaving her clients' stories with her own, she has created a healing tapestry. A superbly comprehensive book, Latino Families in Therapy moves beyond ethnic stereotypes by offering a comparative, multidimensional model of culture. I strongly recommend this volume to all clinicians and to anyone interested in Latinos." --Lillian Comas-Díaz, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Cultural Diversity and Mental Health, Executive Director, Transcultural Mental Health Institute
Review
"Although Falicov...gears her book to those interested in Latino families, its message is critical to any student, researcher, or professional who studies or encounters people from another culture. The author provides a 'cultural generalist' framework to assist the therapist and client, the professor and student, or the scientist and the research participant to assess their cultural similarities and differences."--Choice
Review
"Informative, easy to read, and not overloaded with academic jargon....A must for any student, resident, or attending physician who works with the Latino community."--Family Medicine
Review
"This book provides an encompassing template to work with Latino families and families in transition--cultural and otherwise....Packed with useful ideas that clinical practitioners can apply in their daily work."--Journal of Systemic Therapies
Review
"Falicov has outdone herself with the second edition of
Latino Families in Therapy. She deftly guides therapists working with Latino families through the complexities and intersectionalities of this work. The volume's clarity makes it highly accessible to therapists-in-training, while its clinical wisdom and conceptual depth make it delectable for the most seasoned researcher, theoretician, or therapist. An essential addition to the libraries of those involved in multicultural clinical practice, by the best in the field."--Carola Suárez-Orozco, PhD, Co-Director, Institute of Immigrant Children, Youth, and Families, University of California, Los Angeles
"The second edition of this groundbreaking text updates Falicov's stellar contributions to understanding the interplay of culture and immigration as they play out in the therapy process. Falicov's vast experience as a clinician is evident in her examples of concrete interventions. This edition incorporates insights about the impact of the recent immigration landscape and the consequent transformations of family life. I look forward to using this text in my courses on gender and immigration for doctoral students in psychology."--Oliva M. Espin, PhD, Professor Emerita, San Diego State University and California School of Professional Psychology of Alliant International University
"A feast for our minds and hearts, this rich volume challenges our field's truisms and offers carefully crafted concepts to enlarge our thinking. Falicov invites us to embrace complexity with a framework that is created for Latino families yet applicable to all families. She generously weaves her own life experiences as an immigrant with the moving stories of those whose lives she has masterfully touched, providing a profound balance of the personal and the professional that is so needed in our work. I can't wait to use this book with my graduate and postgraduate students in family therapy."--Evan Imber-Black, PhD, Professor and Program Director, Marriage and Family Therapy Master's Program, Mercy College
"Broad in scope, the book encompasses the process of immigration, the encounter of two cultures, the ecology of the immigrant family, family organization, the family life cycle, and specific aspects of therapy, illustrated with examples of clients treated by the author. As a family therapist born and raised in Argentina, I was surprised and humbled by the many new things I learned about my own migratory process and about the cultures I thought I knew well. This second edition is essential reading for everybody who is working, or plans to work, with this growing and varied population."--Salvador Minuchin, MD
"Falicov methodically deepens the readers understanding of Latino families and culture, with sensitivity and depth of knowledge. Her scholarship is articulated with precision, keen observation, and penetrating insight. Offering an approach that integrates the cultural and sociopolitical issues that affect Latino families, the book guides the clinician to develop culturally sensitive assessments and practical interventions. Falicov's writing is notable for its eloquence, theoretical sophistication, clinical utility, and cultural authority. This is an indispensable text for graduate-level courses in clinical psychology, family therapy, and cultural diversity."--Salvador D. Treviño, PhD, Director, Practicum in PsyD Program, Antioch University Santa Barbara
Review
"Falicov has addressed the subject of Latino families with mucho respeto and personalismo....Falicov's contribution goes beyond an approach to working with Latino families to be a very helpful guide to work with any family in therapy. This book is a great reference for all practicing family therapists, regardless of orientation, and a valuable text for graduate and post-graduate couples and family therapy education and training."--Journal of Family Psychotherapy (on the first edition)
Review
"Both Falicov's approaches and her writing are culturally sensitive, humane, and respectful of differences....Incorporating her model or some of her suggested techniques into one's teaching and clinical practice will go a long way towards preventing cultural misunderstandings in treatment....Falicov has imbued culturally sensitive therapeutic practice with a new richness, encouraging therapists to delve into an invaluable therapeutic approach that, for all its complexity, remains straightforward and accessible."--Journal of Feminist Family Therapy (on the first edition)
Review
"Falicov's writing style is informative, easy to read, and not overloaded with academic jargon. What makes this book so fascinating are the many case presentations….Falicov has artfully put into words many of the nuances of Latino culture, and Latino Families in Therapy is well worth its price."--Family Medicine (on the first edition)
Review
"It is rare to find a family therapy book that you cannot stop reading. Latino Families in Therapy qualifies with honors....Throughout the book, the reader will find a rich account of how therapists construe the Latino experience and how therapy works as a cultural context.... Falicov has given us a presente. I encourage you to open it, taste it, devour it, and say muchas gracias."--Journal of Systemic Therapies (on the first edition)
Synopsis
This book represents an important contribution to the literature on multiculturalism and psychology and provides valuable tools and insights for working with Latino families. Employing an accessible and original multidimensional approach, Falicov presents effective clinical strategies for addressing issues that frequently confront Latino families--including different migration histories, experiences of racial discrimination, and dilemmas that can result from adapting to a new cultural setting. Through in-depth case illustrations, the author demonstrates that Latinos in the United States are a heterogeneous population from many countries, with a diverse array of belief systems and socioeconomic backgrounds. Yet, some widely shared concerns and traditions are discernible. Readers will learn how to become more sensitive to cultural differences without falling prey to stereotypical assessments that rob clients of their individual histories and choices.
Synopsis
This acclaimed work--now in an extensively revised second edition--provides an up-to-date conceptual framework and hands-on strategies for culturally competent clinical practice with Latino families and individuals. Practitioners and students gain an understanding of the family dynamics, migration experiences, ecological stressors, and cultural resources that are frequently shared by Latino families, as well as variations among them. Through many in-depth case illustrations, the author shows how to apply a multicultural and social justice lens to assessment and intervention that draw on each client's strengths. Creative ideas are presented for addressing frequently encountered clinical issues and challenges at all stages of the family life cycle.
New to This Edition
*Delineates the author's multidimensional, ecosystemic, and comparative approach (MECA) in greater detail; presents MECAmaps, MECAgenograms, and other innovative clinical tools.
*Incorporates the latest research and over a decade of social and demographic changes.
*Chapter on working with geographically separated families, including innovative uses of technology.
*Chapters on health disparities and on adolescents.
*Expanded discussions of second-generation risks and strengths and of same-sex marriage, intermarriage, divorce, and stepparenting.
About the Author
Celia Jaes Falicov, PhD, is an internationally known family therapy author, teacher, and clinician. A clinical psychologist, she is Clinical Professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, where she is also Director of Mental Health Services at the Student-Run Free Clinic. Past president of the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA), Dr. Falicov is a Fellow of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the American Orthopsychiatric Association and a recipient of AFTAs Distinguished Contribution to Family Therapy Theory and Practice Award. She serves on the advisory boards of several family therapy journals. Dr. Falicov is well known for her writings on family transitions, migration, and cultural perspectives in family therapy practice and training. Her current work focuses on addressing the mental health care needs of underserved families, facilitating empowerment groups for Latino parents, and training medical students to take into account the impact of migration and culture on health risks and strengths.
Table of Contents
Introduction
I. Overview
1. MECA: A Meeting Place for Culture and Therapy
2. Latino Diversity: Contexts and Cultures
II. Migration and Acculturation
3. Journeys of Migration: Losses and Gains
4. Transnational Therapies: Separations and Reunifications
5. The Second-Generation Identity Struggles: Roots and Wings
III. Ecological Contexts
6. Mental Health Disparities: The Need for Equal and Just Care
7. Religion, Spirituality, and Traditional Healing Practices
8. Racism, Ethnic Prejudice, and Discrimination
9. The Challenge of School and Work
IV. Family Organization
10. The Persistence of Extended Kin
11. Couples: Presenting Issues and Approaches
V. Family Life Cycle
12. Raising Children in Culture and Context
13. Adolescents and Parents Crossing Cultural Borders
14. Young, Middle, and Late Adulthood Transitions
VI. Conclusion
A Reflection: Finding Strengths