Structural Family Therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorder- A Primer

Families raising autistic children often face complex systemic challenges such as heightened anxiety, role overload, and relational disconnection. These issues are further complicated while attempting to navigate a system of care that privileges individual, symptom-focused treatment. Structural Family Therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorder (SFT for ASD) offers a paradigm shift: a systemic, family-based intervention that de-pathologizes neurodiversity and strengthens the family’s capacity for flexibility, communication, and connection. Developed by Dr. Anthony Pennant, this model integrates Structural Family Therapy with Critical Disability Justice, providing clinicians a framework to realign family structures, validate parental experiences, center autistic voices, and challenge disabling narratives. Through guided experiential learning, case application, and live discussion, participants will explore the six-step SFT for ASD process and learn how to apply it across diverse family constellations and cultural contexts. This training invites clinicians to move beyond the individual behavioral management of autistic children toward relational transformation. This shift helps families deepen connection, increase satisfaction, and thrive as neurodiverse systems. Eligible for 1.5 CEs through CAMFT Learning Objectives 1. Describe the theoretical integration of Structural Family Therapy and Critical Disability Justice that grounds the SFT for ASD model. 2. Identify systemic patterns commonly seen in families raising autistic children, including issues of hierarchy, enmeshment, disengagement, and boundary rigidity. 3. Apply the six-step SFT for ASD process to clinical practice, including techniques for joining, restructuring, unbalancing, and deepening family relationships. 4. Demonstrate strategies that validate parental experience while centering the self-determination and agency of autistic family members.