Lesbians and Lesbian Families: Reflections on Theory and Practice

by Joan Laird

Overview

This cutting-edge collection of articles examines the sociocultural context of the lives of lesbians and lesbian families and reveals how new insights about lesbian identities, experiences, and relationships can be integrated into clinical theory and practice. A family therapist, Joan Laird presents several clinical approaches to working with lesbians as individuals and in couple and parenting relationships and to viewing sexual orientation in its full complexity of race, class, gender, and cultural identity.

Rich with clinical case studies and research on the everyday lives of lesbian families, this book includes chapters on the strategic language of self-disclosure, the family lives of lesbian mothers, and lesbian mothers who "come out" to their adolescent children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231102537
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	04/09/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Joan Laird is professor emerita of Smith College School for social work, where she chaired the Human Behavior in the Social Environment sequence. Her most recent book (coedited with Robert-Jay Green) isLesbians and Gays in Couples and Families: A Handbook for Therapists.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Part One: Lesbians and the Social Context
1. Unconsciousness-Raising: Hidden Dimensions of Heterosexism in Theory and Practice with Lesbians, by Elaine Spaulding
2. Ascribing Master Status to Lesbians: Clinical Echoes of Identity Dilemmas, by Susan Donner
3. Gender and Sexuality in Lesbian Relationships: A Feminist Constructionist Perspective, by Joan Laird
4. The Long Road to Equality: Lesbians and Social Policy, by Ann Hartman
Part Two: Lesbian Couples
5. A Struggle for Language: Patterns of Self-Disclosure in Lesbian Couples, by Tara Healy
6. Therapy with a Lesbian Couple: The Art of Balancing Lenses, by Kathryn Karusaitis Basham
7. Object Relations Couples Therapy with Lesbians, by Carol Sussal
Part Three: Lesbians Parenting, and Children
8. Lesbian Co-Parenting: On Being/Being with the Invisible (M)Other, by Cheryl Muzio
9. Lesbian Parents: Understanding Developmental Pathways, by Betty Morningstar
10. The Family Lives of Lesbian Mothers, by Laura Lott-Whitehead and Carol T. Tully
11. Voices from the Heart: The Developmental Impact of a Mother's Lesbianism on Her Adolescent Children, by Ann O'Connell
Part Four: Special Themes in Theory and Practice
12. A Relational Perspective on Mutuality and Boundaries in Clinical Practice with Lesbians, by Carolyn Dillon
13. Resilience in Lesbians: An Exploratory Study, by Sandra Anderson and Barbara Sussex
14. The Application of Control Mastery Theory in Clinical Practice with Lesbians, by Jo Nol

What People are Saying About This

K. Jean Peterson

A wonderful collection of articles that will help to story and restory the lives of lesbians and their families.... I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in increasing their understanding of lesbians and lesbian families.

— K. Jean Peterson, editor of Healthcare for Lesbians and Gay Men

Jean K. Quam

An essential handbook for clinicians...The authors focus on the special strengths of a group that defines its context usually from the margins of society. The assumption of heterosexuality in families is eloquently challenged.

— Jean K. Quam, University of Minnesota-Minneapolis

Editorial Reviews

A wonderful collection of articles that will help to story and restory the lives of lesbians and their families. . . . I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in increasing their understanding of lesbians and lesbian families.

K. Jean Peterson

Expanded from a special issue of (June 1993), this text analyzes family permutations for what has been called the last invisible minority to be outed in national discourse. Offers 16 perspectives on: the social context of lesbians, lesbian couples, lesbian parenting, and special issues in theory and clinical practice (mutuality and boundaries, resilience, and application of control mastery theory). Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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