This interactive workshop presents Cultural Family Therapy (CFT), a synthesis of family therapy and cultural psychiatry based on Di Nicola’s book, "A Stranger in the Family: Culture, Families, and Therapy" (NY: Norton, 1997). It has been submitted for presentation at the Annul Meeting of the Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture in May 2016 in Minneapolis, MN, USA.

1. 1
Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture
“Transforming Policy and Practice for
Culturally Competent Mental Health Care”
37th Annual Meeting
Minneapolis, MN – May 5-7, 2016
CULTURAL FAMILY THERAPY:
The Theory and Practice of Cultural Psychiatry with Families
Vincenzo Di Nicola, MD, PhD
Université de Montréal
and
Steven Wolin, MD
George Washington University
This interactive workshop presents Cultural Family Therapy (CFT), a synthesis of family therapy
and cultural psychiatry based on Di Nicola’s book, A Stranger in the Family: Culture, Families,
and Therapy (1997).
Three key processes for CFT will be demonstrated:
1) Cultural coherence: Each family coheres as and maintains it own culture, reflecting deep
parallels between the functions of the family and culture, so that family culture supersedes the
notion of family system;
2) Cultural transmission: Each family is the bearer of the larger culture(s) it is embedded in;
3) Cultural adaptation: CFT’s unique mission is to facilitate cultural adaptation for families
undergoing culture change.
These processes will be illustrated with case examples.

2. 2
In Part 2, participants will divide into two groups for discussion of CFT theory and practice,
illustrated by two family cases in treatment with Wolin (a couple in continuous conflict whose
battle concerns which family of origin will rule current family life) and Di Nicola (a young adult
of mixed heritage whose core identity, sense of belonging, and symptomatic distress are in
constant flux). Participants will apply the key CFT processes to these cases.
Part III will conclude by reconvening the participants for an interactive discussion, with a focus
on applying CFT treatment strategies to their own clinical work with families undergoing culture
change.
Learning objectives for this workshop are:
1. Identify three key processes that CFT employs to characterize today’s family and
understand their functions in creating a unique culture for its members.
2. Formulate a clinical role for the family and cultural psychiatrist by specifying three
clinical tools for conducting CFT with families undergoing culture change.
References:
Di Nicola, Vincenzo. A Stranger in the Family: Culture, Families, and Therapy. New York &
London: W.W. Norton & Co., 1997.
Di Nicola, Vincenzo. Family, psychosocial, and cultural determinants of health. In: Sorel, Eliot,
ed., 21st Century Global Mental Health. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2012, pp.
119-150.