Allied Family Framework for Education, Communication, & Therapy (AFFECT)
Allied Family Framework for Education, Communication, & Therapy (AFFECT)
Embedded Files
Building Better Blueprints
Building Better Blueprints
The AFFECT Project applies an iterative design thinking approach to integrate sex therapy and family therapy in meaningful, practical ways. This initiative supports parents, adolescents, and families in developing healthy attitudes toward sexuality, strengthening communication, and building resilience within the family system.
Central to the AFFECT Project is the understanding that sexuality and shame often develop side by side, beginning in early childhood and are shaped by one’s family of origin. By addressing and reducing shame and stigma through therapeutic work within the family system, the project promotes healthy development across multiple domains—sexual, emotional, social, psychological, and spiritual.
Sexual wellness, identity, development, trauma-resolution, and health (WIDTH) are the pillars of healthy and authentic development of individuals, relationships, families, and communities. The existing barriers or facilitating channels to meaningful sexual WIDTH are present across all levels of an individual's ecosystem. Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Model presents a structural foundation for taking a community-based approach to research and and a eco-systemic lens in family therapy.
Ecological Systems Thinking
Ecological Systems Thinking
The AFFECT Project operates at the individual, micro-, and mesosystem levels, while drawing on systemic family therapy models to explore the influences of the exo- and macrosystems. It also honors historical context and age-specific developmental milestones of the chronosystem.
Microsystem
Microsystem
People and environments the individual interacts with directly and regularly.
Mesosystem
Mesosystem
The interactions between environmental supports:
School
Church
Neighborhood
Community
Healthcare Providers
Creating change from the core outwards is an ongoing process of considering and examining the broader contexts.
The AFFECT Project is designed to bring together a collaborative team of thought leaders to lay the groundwork for research into evidence-based models of family-centered sex therapy. By working within the family system, the project creates a vital bridge between individual experiences and the broader ecological context. Supporting healthy sexual development at the individual level is at the core of thriving ecological systems.
Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model - A Visualization of the Complex Factors Affecting Human Development
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse