The length and frequency of deployments in the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are associated with increased vulnerability for both part-and full-time military families who stand to benefit from systems-oriented practice by marriage and family therapists. Community Family Therapy (CFT) is a modality designed to promote resilience both within and beyond the four walls of the therapy room, facilitate family connections in the community, and empower them for local leadership. The effects of deployment on families are summarized and CFT principles are adapted as a framework for intervention with this population.Keywords Community engagement Á Deployment Á Family therapy Á Military familiesIn over 9 years of the Global War on Terror (GWOT), including Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), more than 1.8 million United States service men and women have been deployed overseas (RAND Corporation 2009), leaving behind a staggering number of loved ones, including parents, spouses, partners, and children. In the last few years, research on the effects of a previously unforeseeable number of deployments and increased operations tempo on military families has expanded rapidly. There are still numerous gaps, such as program evaluation (Griffith 2010), clarification of risk versus resilience (Ternus 2010), variations of deployment effects based on gender, and developmental differences of children (Chandra et al. 2010;Chartrand et al. 2008;Lester et al. 2010).One significant and practical gap concerns how civilian counselors and therapists can more effectively intervene with military families in this situation. In this article I address the unique role that marriage and family therapists (MFTs) can play in promoting
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