Using an IFS Informed Intervention to Treat African American Families Surviving Sexual Abuse

Abstract

The author provides a case study of Internal Family Systems model when providing therapy for an African American single mother who is working to heal with a female child who has been sexually abused. The author presents a format to challenge issues of power, privilege and oppression through the incorporation of Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS). She explores both the historical context and cultural implications for African American families who are surviving sexual abuse. This study provides implications for future research concerning the use of IFS to challenge issues related to oppression.

The Use of Spirituality and Kinship as Contributors to Successful Therapy Outcomes with African American Families

“…This inclusion is helpful, in that it allows family members to understand what is happening with the individual while simultaneously allowing them to become more positively involved and engaged as a family toward resolving the problem. Finally, Wilkins (2007) introduced the Internal Family Systems model to work with African American individuals and family members who have experienced sexual abuse.…”

“…Wilkins (2007) used a similar approach of helping individuals tell their story through the use of Internal Family Systems. This approach allows client families to assume Downloaded by [University of Haifa Library] at 04:45 08 December 2014 the power that they may have relinquished to crises or challenging experiences.…”

“…Many African Americans have had to experience such challenges as racism, poverty, joblessness or underemployment, among other things (Boyd-Franklin, 2003). Therapy that includes acknowlegement of this history, accompanied by questions concerning the strengths the family utilized to overcome this past, allows the family to face and defeat the current stressor (Wilkins, 2007).…”

Feminist theories in contemporary couple and family psychology.

“…This article illustrates how to explore relations between feminist theory about child sexual abuse and family systems theory about working with extended family members. Wilkins (2007) used the internal family systems model to help an African American mother and her daughter who had been sexually abused. This model outlines the historical context of privilege and oppression that African Americans have suffered as a template for helping families surviving sexual abuse.…”

Thematic review of family therapy journals in 2007

“…Morwood (2007) gave an account of developing systemic parenting programmes in a Palestinian refugee community in Lebanon. Wilkins (2007) showed how the Internal Family Systems model was used in treating an African‐American single mother with a female child who had been sexually abused. This sample of papers shows that sensitivity to cultural diversity in systemic practice was an important concern within the field in 2007.…”