Michael LaSala

Michael C. LaSala, PhD, LCSW is a Professor at Rutgers University and where he has also served as MSW Director and DSW Director. During his tenure at Rutgers, Professor LaSala has won several awards for innovation in teaching. He is also a recipient of the American Family Therapy Academy’s 2017 Distinguished Contribution to Social Justice Award.

He has been a practicing family therapist and teacher/trainer for over 35 years, and his research and clinical specialties are the couple and family relationships of gay men and lesbians and the role of family influences on the sexual behaviors of gay and bisexual youth.  Professor LaSala’s first book entitled: Coming Out, Coming Home (Columbia University Press) describes the findings and practice implications of a National Institute of Mental Health funded qualitative study of 65 gay and lesbian youth and their families. He is also the author of the newly published: Clinical Social Work with Individuals, Families, and Groups: The Power of Healing Relationships (Routledge). Other examples of Professor LaSala’s work can be found in over 30 journal articles and his blog for Psychology Today (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/gay-and-lesbian-well-being).

Book 

LaSala, M. C. (2022), Clinical Social Work with Individuals, Families and Groups: The Healing power of Relationships (380 pages). Routledge 

LaSala, M. C. (2010). Coming Out, Coming Home: Helping Families Adjust to a Gay or Lesbian Child. New York: Columbia University Press.   

Journal Articles

Lee, M. Y., Lightfoot, E., LaSala, M., Franklin, C., Eads, R., Bradshaw, R., & Rhoads, J. (2023). Current Landscape of Doctoral Education in Social Work: A Look at the PhD and DSW Programs, Journal of Social Work Education. 2.

LaSala, M. C., & Fedor, J. P. (2020). “A Victim is a Victim”: LGBT Blindness among Victim Assistance Workers. Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice & Criminology, 9(1), 40-48

LaSala, M. C., & Fedor, J. P. (2020). “A Victim is a Victim”: LGBT Blindness among Victim Assistance Workers. Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice & Criminology.

LaSala, M. C. & Goldblatt Hyatt, E.D. (2019). A bioethics approach to transgender clients.  Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, 31, 501-520.

Toros, K. & LaSala, M. C. (2019) Child protection workers’ understanding of the meaning and value of self-reflection in Estonia. Reflective Practice, 20, 266-278. 

Newcomb, M. E., LaSala, M. C., Bouris, A., Mustanski, B., Prado, G., Sc​hrager, S. M., & Huebner, D. M. (2019). The influence of families on LGBTQ youth health: A call to action for innovation in research and intervention development. LGBT health, 6(4), 139-145.

Toros, K. & LaSala, M.C. (2016). Estonian child protective workers’ case reflections. Child & Family Social Work. doi:10.1111/cfs.12303.

LaSala, M. C., Siebert, C. F., Fedor, J. P., & Revere, E. J. (2016). The role of family interactions in HIV risk for gay and bisexual male youth: A pilot study. Journal of Family Social Work, 1-19. doi.org/10.1080/10522158.2016.1155517

LaSala, M. C., Fedor, J. P., Revere, E. J., & Carney, R. (2015). What parents and their gay and bisexual sons say about HIV prevention. Qualitative Health Research. doi:10.1177/1049732315604588.

Bird, J.D.P, , LaSala, M.C., Hidalgo, M.A., Kuhns, L. M. & Garofalo, R. (2016). “I had to go to the streets to get love: Pathways from parental rejection to HIV risk among young gay and bisexual men. Journal of Homosexuality. doi:10.1080/00918369.2016.1179039.

Toros, L. & LaSala, M.C. (2015). Social Work Students’ Reflections on a Solution-Focused Approach to Child Protection Assessment: A Qualitative Study. Social Work Education. doi: 10.1080/02615479.2015.1121222.

Toros, K. & LaSala, M.C. (2015). Estonian child protection workers’ assessment perspectives: The need for competence and confidence. International Social Work. doi: 10.1177/0020872815603788.

Toros, K., LaSala, M. C., & Medar, M.  (2015). Assessment of children in need in a post-Soviet context. Journal of Family Social Work, 18, 267-287.

LaSala, M. C. (2015). Condoms and connections: Parents, gay and bisexual youth and HIV risk. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 14, 451-464.

LaSala, M. C. (2013). Out of the darkness: Three waves of family research and the emergence of family therapy for gay and lesbian people. Clinical Social Work, 42, 267-276.

LaSala, M. C. & Frierson, D. (2012). African American gay youth and their families: Redefining masculinity, coping with racism and homophobia. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Family Studies, 8, 428-445.

LaSala, M. C. & Revere, E. (2011) “It would have been impossible before:” Reflections on current gay life in Estonia. Journal of Homosexuality, 58, 427-439.