This Brief from the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA) is a collection of chapters from the AFTA Monograph Series. The chapters specifically address responses to a wide range of contextual phenomena from a relational family therapy perspective. Chapters are grounded in family systems concepts and informed by postmodern perspectives including social justice. The collection provides cutting edge thinking and practices for a variety of experiences that strongly impact individuals and families. Authors address the treatment of couples and families oppressed by socio-contextual phenomena such as war and poverty, and of those marginalized by the insidious impact of dominant discourse on relationships and on the therapeutic context, for example, sexual/gender identity and sexual practices. Established practitioners and scholars with particular expertise in the areas addressed bring exceptional transparency and knowledge to the descriptions of their work. Researchers, clinicians, educators, and students of family and couples therapy will find this volume very useful.

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Introduction and Overview.- Families in the War Zone: Narratives of Me and the Other in the Course of Therapy.- Reflections on Growing Up in a War Zone: Understanding War and Building Peace.- Fresh Start for Families: A collaboratively-build Community based program for families that are homeless.- Constructing Empowerment and Resilience Contexts: Systemic Interventions in Communities.- Challenges and Changes to Family Therapy Practice in South Africa.- Nuestra Casa the Family to the Community.- Helping Children Heal After the Hurricanes: An Innovative Training Approach.- News From Neuroscience: Applications to Couple therapy.- Neurobiology and Addiction: Assisting the Family and Support System to Get Resistant Loved Ones Into Treatment.- Doing Family: Decentering Heteronormativity in Marriage and Family Therapy.- Families in Transition: Supporting Families of Transgender Youth.- Erotic Fantasy Reconsidered: From Tragedy to Triumph.- Couples and Kinky Sexuality: The Need for a New Therapeutic Approach.- Open Relationships: A Culturally and Clinically Sensitive Approach.