Black Couples Therapy

Dr. Yamonte Cooper is a scholar, author, professor of counseling, adjunct professor of clinical psychology, Clinical Director of the West Coast Sex Therapy Center, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC), and Certified Sex Therapist Supervisor (CST-S). As a Fulbright scholar, Dr. Cooper has exchanged best practices globally in career counseling and development. Dr. Erica Holmes is a licensed clinical psychologist, educator, author, speaker, and consultant. As executive director of Champion Counseling Center, Associate Program Chair and Director of the Trauma Specialization at Antioch University, and founder of HOMMs Consulting, she has provided psychotherapy, training, consultation, and research services to individuals and organizations for over twenty years.

'This wonderful ground-breaking book charts new territory in the treatment of Black couples. It is one of the first books to explore therapy with heterosexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender Black couples in one volume. An inspirational text for both experienced and new therapists, it provides special strategies for addressing the impact of racism on Black relationships. This book is also an outstanding resource for all courses on diversity, and couple and family therapy.' Nancy Boyd-Franklin, Rutgers University, New Jersey, and author of Black Families in Therapy: Understanding the African American Experience

• List of Figures; List of Tables; List of Contributors; Foreword by Kenneth V. Hardy; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Part I. Race, Racism, and Identity: 1. Internalized Stereotypes and the Impact on Black Couples Cynthia Chestnut; 2. The Role of the Strong Black Woman Schema in Black Love and Relationships Heather C. Lofton and Adia Gooden; 3. Black Same-Gender-Loving Male Couples' Health within an Afrocentric Psychological Paradigm: The Influences of Spirituality and Religion Jonathan Mathias Lassiter; Part II. Foundations for Healthy Coupling: 4. The Foundations for Strong and Healthy Relationships between Black Men and Women: Purposes, Practices, and Processes Daryl M. Rowe and Sandra Lyons Rowe; 5. Considerations for Premarital Counseling and Education for Dating and Engaged Heterosexual African American Couples Erica Holmes, Ronecia Lark and Jessica M. Smedley; Part III. Adapting Major Therapeutic Approaches for work with African American Couples: 6. Emotionally Focused Therapy with Black Couples Yamonte Cooper; 7. Use of the Gottman Method with African American Couples Impacted by Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome Satira Streeter Corbitt; 8. Transcending the Binary: A Narrative Therapy Approach to Work with Black Trans Men Navigating Gender Transition with Romantic Partners Moe A. Brown; 9. Imago Therapy and the African American Couple Beverley Boothe; 10. African American Narratives of Trauma: An EMDR Approach to Tapping into the Strengths of Black Love Alice Shepard and Katherine McKay; Part IV. Sex and Intimacy: 11. Sexual Intimacy in Black Heterosexual Couple Relationships: Challenges and Opportunities toward Relational Intimacy Danielle Y. Drake and Daktari Shari R. Hicks; 12. Intimacy, Desire, and Sex in the African American Relationships Jeshana Avent-Johnson; 13. Wearing a Mask in Love: Implications for Covering and Infidelity in Black Relationships Laura Dupiton and Cynthia Chestnut; Part V. Special Topics: 14. Weathering the Storm: Fertility and the Black Lesbian Experience Tenika L. Jackson; 15. African American Men and Infertility: Biopsychosocial Considerations Brian R. Humphrey; 16. Couples Therapy with Black American Couples Facing Medical Illness: Considerations for Treatment Lekeisha A. Sumner; Index.