Grounded in the personal narratives of twenty interracial couples with multiracial children, this volume uniquely explores interracial couples’ encounters with racism and discrimination, partner difference, family identity, and counseling and therapy. It intimately portrays how race, class, and gender shape relationship dynamics and a partner’s sense of belonging. Assessment tools and intervention techniques help professionals and scholars work effectively with multiracial families as they negotiate difference, resist familial and societal disapproval, and strive for increased intimacy. The book concludes with a discussion of interracial couples in cinema and literature, the sensationalization of multiracial relations in mass media, and how to further liberalize partner selection across racial borders. Reviews: "Killian uses a variety of in-depth interviews to craft authentic and compelling narratives in support of his case for interventions. His literature review is comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and up to date, and the issues he names are current and relevant. This book captures the realities of today's interracial couples, and will become a landmark reference for seasoned scholars and practitioners, as well as for students in the social sciences and clinical professions." — Peter Fraenkel, Director, Ackerman Institute "Without fear, Kyle Killian, inquires systematically into the lives of twenty interracial couples. Moving beyond simple ethnographic curiosity, this book invites readers to appreciate how race relations unavoidably make its way into the most intimate spaces. Adopting the best of a strength-oriented approach, this book wonderfully weaves history, couple formation, human development theory, and family systems approaches, and social constructionist psychotherapy approaches, to illuminate the lived experience of interracial couples. This book will be a must addition in counseling psychology, couples therapy, multicultural counseling courses. It will also be a welcome addition in undergraduate courses in family and human development courses. Moreover, interracial couples and their families will find a world of wisdom in this book; it will be a good preventive measure for those navigating the complexities of interracial intimacy." — Gonzalo Bacigalupe, EdD, MPH, , Professor, University of Massachusetts Boston "Kyle D. Killian provides a backdrop to the experiences of twenty interracial couples by connecting them to the literature, cinema, and to the intersection of power, gender, culture, race and class. He is not crazy about the “no race talk” rule some interracial couples adopt. He contends that moving beyond silence about race can be transformative, even revolutionary. He provides a number of ways professionals can help interracial couples make sense of their experiences of marginalization, find their voice, and reauthor their family identities in life-giving ways. In so doing, this book is emancipatory." — Fred P. Piercy, Editor, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy About the Author: Kyle D. Killian is a licensed couple and family therapist and associate professor and research associate at the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University.
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