Evaluating Trauma-Informed, Culturally Responsive Family Therapy for Black Families

What is it about?

Family therapy approaches that are both trauma-informed and culturally responsive are increasingly recognized as essential for addressing the complex realities of historically marginalized communities. Lee et al.’s TI-SAFT framework attempts to integrate these principles specifically for Black families, addressing intergenerational trauma, systemic racism, and culturally shaped family dynamics. My review of this framework goes beyond a summary; it critically examines its conceptual clarity, practical utility, and grounding in the existing literature of Socioculturally Attuned Family Therapy (SCAFT). Through this analysis, I identify both the strengths and the limitations of TI-SAFT. The framework’s attention to safety, transparency, and power-sharing reflects an important step toward socially just clinical practice. However, it lacks guidance on how clinicians should implement it alongside established evidence-based trauma treatments, and it insufficiently engages with foundational SCAFT scholarship that I and others have developed. Without empirical testing or operationalized procedures, the framework’s applicability in real-world therapy remains largely theoretical. Drawing on my research with families navigating intergenerational trauma, religious and gender-related challenges, and relational power dynamics, I highlight ways that systemic, relational, and culturally attuned interventions can produce meaningful change. My review emphasizes that culturally responsive family therapy must be both conceptually rigorous and empirically grounded to be effective. Ultimately, this work serves as a bridge, recognizing the promise of TI-SAFT while pointing the field toward more robust, evidence-informed, and socially just applications in family therapy practice.

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Why is it important?

This review is timely because it situates TI-SAFT within the broader, empirically validated SCAFT framework, providing a critical lens that emphasizes both cultural attunement and systemic efficacy. Unlike prior commentary, my analysis connects theoretical aspirations to practical clinical implementation and highlights gaps that, if addressed, could significantly improve outcomes for Black families experiencing intergenerational trauma. By integrating trauma-informed principles with relational and sociocultural expertise, this work advances the dialogue on how family therapy can be both culturally responsive and empirically robust, offering actionable guidance for researchers, clinicians, and policymakers.

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