ResearchPod Summary
Family therapy as a field has historically relied on the assumption that the nuclear, heterosexual family is the standard for health and normalcy. The authors argue that this heteronormativity—the uncritical adoption of heterosexuality as the default—constrains clinical theory, training, and research. By treating "marriage" and "family" as fixed, binary concepts, the profession inadvertently pathologizes or renders invisible any relationship structure that falls outside these traditional bounds. This silence around heterosexuality maintains it as a position of dominance, forcing sexual minorities to constantly "come out" or assimilate to heterosexual norms to be recognized as legitimate.
To move toward a more inclusive and accurate model, the authors propose shifting the focus from "the family" as a noun to "doing family" as a verb. Drawing on queer theory and postmodernism, this approach views family as a set of practices, responsibilities, and caretaking bonds rather than a static institution. When therapists stop using gender-prescriptive roles as the baseline for health, they can better appreciate the diverse ways families organize themselves. Research suggests that non-heterosexual families often develop more egalitarian structures and resilient strategies precisely because they are not constrained by traditional, gendered expectations.
The authors suggest three primary ways for the field to decenter heteronormativity:
By embracing variation as the norm, family therapists can move beyond "managing" diversity and instead foster environments that nurture authentic, diverse relational health.
[[RP_SECTION:critique-of-assimilationist-research|Critique of assimilationist research]]
Alex: [measured, calm, direct] The field's long-standing research paradigm—which seeks to prove that same-sex families are functionally identical to heterosexual ones—is a defensive trap. By prioritizing conformity over structural critique, it inadvertently reinforces the very heteronormativity it's trying to escape. That's the central argument of a 2010 monograph by Jacqueline Hudak and Shawn Giammattei in the American Family Therapy Academy series.
Sam: That's a strong claim. If the whole point of that research was to secure social and legal legitimacy for LGBT families, are they saying the "no difference" approach is actually working against itself?
Alex: That's precisely the argument. By constantly demonstrating that these families look and function like the heterosexual norm, researchers are essentially requiring LGBT families to "cover" their differences in order to be accepted—rather than challenging the norm itself. The legitimacy on offer is conditional on assimilation.
Sam: So the "no difference" strategy is framed as assimilationist. What's the alternative? How do you move away from that baseline without losing the ability to talk meaningfully about family wellbeing? [[RP_SECTION:doing-family-framework|Doing family framework]]
Alex: They propose a shift from viewing family as a static noun—an institution defined by its structure—to what they call "doing family." Family becomes an ongoing, intentional practice of caretaking and relational responsibility, not a box you check by having the right composition.
Sam: That's a significant ontological move. Instead of auditing structure—two parents, biological ties—you're evaluating the quality of relational labor. Does that change how a therapist would actually work with a couple in the room?
Alex: Substantially. A therapist working from this model stops trying to normalize a couple by slotting them into traditional gendered roles—breadwinner, nurturer—and instead focuses on how they negotiate their specific relational dynamics on their own terms. The question shifts from "do you look like a standard family?" to "how are you building one?"
Sam: But there's a risk there. If the therapist still holds an invisible heteronormative standard for what that relational labor should look like, haven't you just relocated the bias rather than removed it? [[RP_SECTION:naming-heterosexuality-as-identity|Naming heterosexuality as identity]]
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Alex: That's the core tension the authors are trying to resolve. Their answer is that therapists must explicitly name heterosexuality as a specific, constructed cultural identity—rather than the invisible, universal default—to stop it from functioning as a hidden baseline. As long as it goes unnamed, it remains unexamined and unassailable.
Sam: So the therapist needs to treat heterosexuality as a cultural identity subject to scrutiny, just like any other. That's a substantial shift for training programs.
Alex: It is. The authors argue that failing to name heterosexuality maintains the illusion that only LGBT individuals have a sexual orientation. The "norm" stays invisible precisely because it's never interrogated. And an invisible norm is a very powerful one.
Sam: There's something almost paradoxical about it—the "no difference" research was politically necessary for a certain era, but it's become a theoretical ceiling. It forces families to assimilate rather than flourish in structures that don't map onto the template.
Alex: Right. And the authors point out that non-heterosexual families often develop more egalitarian divisions of labor precisely because they aren't constrained by gendered scripts. The framework treats that as a strength worth studying, not a deviation to be explained away.
Sam: And if the "doing family" lens becomes the standard, it potentially benefits heterosexual couples too—anyone trapped by rigid gendered expectations gains something from deconstructing the norm.
Alex: That's the broader ambition. Deconstructing the default doesn't just make space for LGBT families—it opens up a more flexible, negotiated model of relational health for everyone.
Sam: I want to press on the evidentiary status of all this, though. The authors are offering a conceptual reframe for clinical practice. Did they provide any empirical validation—structured interventions, outcome data—for how this actually works? [[RP_SECTION:empirical-limitations-of-theory|Empirical limitations of theory]]
Alex: That's the critical limitation, and it's worth being direct about it. This is a theoretical and discursive critique, not a clinical trial. There's no validated intervention, no outcome data, no pre-registered comparison of therapeutic approaches. What they're offering is a new ontological lens for practice—a reorientation of what questions therapists should be asking—but the empirical work to demonstrate that this lens produces better outcomes simply hasn't been done yet.
Sam: So it's a foundational argument aimed at reshaping training curricula and research priorities, not a finished clinical protocol.
Alex: Exactly. The contribution is to shift the field's frame—from auditing family composition to evaluating the quality of relational practices. Whether that shift produces measurable therapeutic gains is the question the authors are, in effect, handing to the next generation of researchers. Thanks for listening to ResearchPod.