The Lesbian Family Life Cycle - Softcover

Slater, Suzanne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0252067835 ISBN 13: 9780252067839

Publisher: University of Illinois Press, 1999

Synopsis

This is the first book to examine the special bonds and stresses, common to lesbian families and to provide a five-stage working model for the development of lesbian couple relationships. Drawing on more than sixteen years of clinical experience and research, Suzanne Slater explores the coping mechanisms, lesbian families have developed in order to interact with their families of origin, with the straight world, and with the lesbian communities of which they are a part. By treating lesbian relationships on their own terms, rather than in terms of heterosexual relationships, Slater provides valuable guidance for friends as well as members of lesbian families. Her book is also useful for therapists who wish to design more effective and informed therapies than those based on heterosexual experience.

About this title

Review:

"Still the only book entirely devoted to the lesbian family and how it grows and changes over time... The Lesbian Family Life Cycle was a standout when it was first published, and it is a standout today. If you are interested in the lesbian family, consider letting it stand out on your bookshelf." - Carla M. Monestere, The Lesbian Review of Books ADVANCE PRAISE "The author opens the inner door to the lives of lesbian couples where strength, fortitude, and inventiveness guide them through a life journey absent of maps or societal support. Our understanding of what family means is expanded and myths and prejudices are dispelled. Important reading for friends and families of lesbians and gays as well as mental health professionals."- Stanley Siegel, author of Uncharted Lives: Understanding the Life Passages of Gay Men "The Lesbian Family Life Cycle shows us that all families, and indeed even the idea of family itself, are created both by culture and by individual creative agency. By particularizing the process through which lesbians form attachments, create communities, and care for children, Suzanne Slater puts what has been invisible in our homophobic society onto center stage."- Virginia Goldner, Ackerman Institute of Family Therapy

About the Author:

Suzanne Slater earned her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan in 1979. Since that time, she has specialized in working with lesbian individuals and families and maintains a private practice in Northampton, Massachusetts. Lecturing and writing on issues relevant to lesbian families' lives, Ms. Slater also serves as a member of The Stone Center at Wellesley College.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0252067835
• ISBN 13: 9780252067839
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 216