Navigating Postmodernism & Critical Theory in Family Therapy

<p>Postmodern and critical theories have become important theoretical paradigms encouraging therapists to honor diversity and combat oppressive social structures and practices. However, at times, these two paradigms have been thought to position therapists in contradictory ways, with critical models advocating for activism and postmodern models encouraging pluralism. In many ways, these two therapeutic positions have come to characterize two distinct ways of conceptualizing therapist roles, with little conversation about how to embrace both stances in clinical practice. Through a grounded theory analysis, fifteen family therapists known for working within postmodern and critical paradigms shared with us how they navigate between positions of activism and pluralism in clinical practice. We found that therapists described their work in similar ways, engaging in a set of shared constructionist practices: therapist transparency, Inquiry as intervention, and staying experience near, and also employed therapeutic activism in different ways, with counter activism and collaborative activism representing two distinct stances.</p> <p>Keywords: postmodernism, critical theory, collaborative activism, social justice</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Marital and Family Therapy

Year

2014

Author dc:creator

• White, Justine Anne

Contributors dc:contributor

• Knudson-Martin, Carmen
• Huenergardt, Douglas
• Oloo, Winetta Baker
• Tuttle, Amy

• Counseling
• Psychology
• Postmodernism; Family Psychotherapy; Family Therapy; Psychoanalytic Interpretation; Psychological Theory; Self-Assessment
• Collaborative Activism
• Social Justice
• Critical Theory
• Family Therapy; Activism; Therapist Transparency

Statement dc:rights

• This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/185

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarsrepository.llu.edu:etd-1187