African American Family Studies Program

African American Family Studies

• The African American Family Studies Program was prompted by a question and a vision with the understanding that “each of us has worked by improvisation, discovering the shape of creation along the way, rather than pursuing a vision already defined.”

Mary Catherine Bateson

Full Circles, Overlapping Lives 2000

DOWNLOAD THE MFTAAFS STUDENT 2007-08 HANDBOOK

Building an AAFS Cohort 

Instructions.....that Challenges

• “Family therapists working with African American families need to gain a deeper level of understanding of the ways the historical, political, and personal context of African American’s lives play out in their communities and in their therapy sessions……..” 

• “I suggest that the intersection between historical, sociopolitical, and community influences and ethnic consciousness, kinship systems, and personal incongruence has resulted in an experience of multiple realities for many African Americans…...”

• “This more expanded view of the multiple realities of the lives of African American families will foster a therapeutic relationship that is informed, respectful, and supportive.  It is important that family therapists understand, acknowledge, and incorporate into their practices the often hidden legacies of strength and solidarity that have enabled generations of African American families to survive, and very often thrive.” 

  Barbra J. Fletcher Stephens - Biography

Twin Legacies of African American Families 2005

Journal of Systemic Therapies