Queer-Contextualized Structural Family Therapy

This chapter explores the assumptions and theory of structural family therapy (SFT) while adapting SFT through a queer-contextualized lens. The material addresses gaps and limitations within the theory and emphasizes the importance of adapting SFT to better serve LGBTQIA+ couples and families. It also critically examines the core tenets of SFT, such as family structure, boundaries, subsystems, hierarchy, joining, confirmation, tracking, structural mapping, reframing, and enactments. A focus includes strategies for fostering an inclusive therapeutic environment, with centering diverse family structures, and rethinking traditional power hierarchies. A central adaptation involves self of the therapist work, encouraging clinicians to critically examine their own values and assumptions, as well as their understanding of patriarchy, heteronormativity, and cisnormativity. The chapter provides case examples to illustrate the adaptations to SFT.