Now in a fully revised and expanded second edition, this classic text guides helping professionals and students to understand and address cultural and racial issues in therapy. Leading family therapist Nancy Boyd-Franklin explores the problems and challenges facing African American communities at different socioeconomic levels; expands major therapeutic concepts and models to be more relevant to the experiences of African American families and individuals; and, outlines an empowering, multisystemic approach to helping clients mobilize cultural and personal resources for change. Strategies for optimizing the therapeutic alliance and overcoming barriers in treatment are illustrated with extensive clinical material.

New in the Second Edition:
* discussions of important topics for African American communities today, including Afrocentricity; Rites-of-Passage programs; educational disparities, particularly as they affect boys; racial profiling; violence; substance abuse; and, HIV/AIDS
* new chapter on the impact of racism on gender socialization and relationships, including implications for couple therapy
* expanded coverage of racial identity issues in African American families and spiritual resources in therapy
* new chapter on public policy issues affecting families: welfare reform, kinship care, affirmative action, managed care, and more
* new chapter on divorce, remarriage, and stepparenting in the extended family context
* brief sections on Caribbean and biracial children and families.