Traditionally, family members were defined as someone who was born into the family, adopted into the family, or united by marriage. Today’s family members have a broader spectrum which includes committed family households beyond legally married heterosexual couples and their children (McGoldrick & Carter, 2010). The complexities within each type of family structure were brought about by marriage, interracial coupling, foster parenting, informal kinship adoptions, social class position, and more. Therefore, family definition must go beyond traditional thinking to include people who choose to spend their lives together in a kinship relationship despite the lack of legal recognition or bloodlines. Family therapy took shape circa 1950s. The mental
