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Writing a Canadian distance course in Feminist Family Therapy: is this really possible?

Writing a Canadian distance course in Feminist Family Therapy: is this really possible?. Dr. Deborah Foster & Dr. Karen Nielsen Athabasca University. The Context. So we begin to write a Canadian course on Feminist Family Therapy. We went looking for a Canadian text – NONE

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Writing a Canadian distance course in Feminist Family Therapy: is this really possible?

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  1. Writing a Canadian distance course in Feminist Family Therapy: is this really possible? Dr. Deborah Foster & Dr. Karen Nielsen Athabasca University

  2. The Context

  3. So we begin to write a Canadian course on Feminist Family Therapy We went looking for a Canadian text – NONE Which led us into a conversation about what this means

  4. Society & Culture • Class, gender, and power are critically relevant dimensions in the field feminist family therapy • Construction of meaning based on our cultural narratives

  5. Society and Culture • Canada has traditionally been seen as a country that emphasizes universalistic values in social welfare (although it is changing) • USA : more individualistic values with social welfare based on “the market place” • Different political and racial/immigrant history

  6. IF …… • Culture/Cultural narratives is important AND … • Family is the main source of socialization • Many families need/want counselling THEN WHY …. • Why is there a dearth of feminist family therapy being published in Canada in recent years • And what does it say about our ability to prepare new therapists to work from a feminist perspective

  7. SINCE …. • If we are not publishing in this area, how do we expect the primary societal messages towards women to change AND … • We think it IS important to take culture into account when counselling minorities such as Lesbians, Aboriginals and Immigrants THEN … • Why not families

  8. IF … • We believe as feminists that the external is a source of troubled families problems, shouldn’t we be providing therapy that looks at our “external”? AND … • Often their ‘external’ is influenced by cable TV • For example, many students believe women are equally as physically violent as men. Whose external is this?

  9. Inclusion and Exclusion • Concern over issues of inclusion and exclusion: Family Therapy texts that are written in USA seldom have any content on working with First Nations People • In Alberta there are currently about 6000 children in care, of which about 5000 are Aboriginal/Métis AND ‘Family Group Counselling’ is the current buzz word • Intersectionality – of race, culture, gender

  10. We really wanted to make this a Canadian course but in the end we were forced to go with an American textbook and American articles from American Journals. We have been able to find a few articles that do allow students to see themselves So if you or someone you know is doing Feminist Family Therapy then ask them to …. • Publish!!

  11. What do you think

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