This course will give a general introduction to the psychological and sociological aspects of the family. We will examine family life in sociocultural and developmental contexts and identifies key processes in healthy functioning and resilience under stressful conditions. It addresses the challenges and strengths in the broad spectrum of families today, considering their diverse cultural orientation and socioeconomic circumstances, and their varied and fluid structural arrangements, gender roles, sexual orientation, and passage over the life course and across the generations. Implications for clinical psychology and community practice are provided and many current research inputs are discussed. The course will also cover the following topics: a systemic framework, with ecological and developmental perspectives on family processes, adaptation, and resilience, clinical perspectives on “normal” (i.e., average) and “healthy” (i.e., optimal) family functioning as they influence assessment of family dysfunction and therapeutic goals, and interactional patterns in successful couple relationships, navigating work and family challenges in dual-earner families, risk and resilience after divorce, single-parent households, remarriage and stepfamily life, gay and lesbian family life, kinship care, adoptive families, race, class, and poverty, immigrant family processes, changing gender norms, the spiritual dimension of family life, the family life cycle, family resilience, normative family transitions, couple relationship quality, and healthy child development, family challenges with illness, disability, and genetic conditions, and the value of rituals in family and community life.