Dr. Nancy Boyd-Franklin, Professor in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University, delivered the first Alumnae/i Lecture of the 2007/2008 season on October 12, 2007. Her topic was “Special Issues in the Treatment of African-American Families.”
Using a combination of lecture, clinical case examples and videotapes, Dr. Boyd-Franklin shared insights with the audience about how to work effectively with African-American clients and families. Dr. Boyd-Franklin pointed out that there is great diversity within the African-American community, and offered advice to the participants about how to make use of cultural strengths, including the extended family network, religion and spirituality, and survival skills, in their work. The workshop also addressed the issue of racism, particularly in terms of its impact on family life, child rearing and gender issues. In addition, Dr. Boyd-Franklin spoke about the “invisibility” of African-American men and the fears of many black families for their male children.
Nancy Boyd-Franklin is an internationally recognized lecturer and the author of five books and numerous articles on ethnicity and family therapy, the treatment of African-American families, extended family issues, spirituality and religion, home-based family therapy, group therapy for black women, HIV and AIDS, parent and family support groups, community empowerment and the multisystems model. Currently she is the co-director, with Dr. Brenna Bry, of the Rutgers/Somerset Counseling Program, a school and community-based program that trains doctoral students to provide individual therapy, home-based family therapy, and school-based violence prevention groups for at-risk adolescents.