Qualitative Inquiry and Family Therapist Identity Construction Through Community-Based Child Welfare Practice

Abstract

The Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) field has discussed how to emphasize broader sociological contexts in family therapy practices (Hardy, 2001; Johnson, 2001; Sluzki, 2001) and education (McDowell & Shelton, 2002). As a way to bridge perceived fragmentation between MFT education and intensive clinical practice within larger sociological contexts, this article describes our experiences as five MFT therapist-interns and one clinical faculty (practicing as both therapist and supervisor) facilitating the Families in Transition (FIT) program, a community-based family reunification program offered through an accredited MFT training clinic. Qualitative action research methods (Greenwood & Levin, 2005) synthesizing feminist autoethnography (Allen & Piercy, 2005; Holman-Jones, 2005; Richardson & St. Pierre, 2005) were used to present an illustration of our struggle of knowing how to act as MFTs in the real-world context of child welfare.