Family Therapy for Families of Clients in Adolescent Mental Health Treatment Programs
Family therapy greatly increases the effectiveness of treatment and post-discharge outcomes for teens and families. Family therapy sessions focus on your teen’s treatment and resiliency goals, making adjustments to the family system to support your teen’s long-term resilience, the health and needs of other family members, as well as assisting your teen and family with the transition back into the home upon discharge.
Throughout treatment, each adolescent and their identified caregiver(s) are required to participate in at least one family therapy session per week.
Appropriate for all family members and key supporters: Family therapy may be appropriate for family members and any person who currently lives in the home with the client or plays a significant role in the client’s life. This can include parents, grandparents, step-parents, siblings, and more. The family therapist will speak to you before the first family session about who is important to include in the client’s treatment. If you have concerns about the appropriateness of including siblings or other minors, please speak with the family therapist.
Sessions with and without your teen: You sometimes will meet with your family therapist without your teen present. This session will focus on a number of areas regarding your teen’s treatment, including information about your teen’s diagnosis, progress in treatment, presenting or emerging concerns, family relationships, psychoeducation, behavior management, and family skills training. During other sessions, your teen will be present and will participate in conversations about psychoeducation regarding your teen’s diagnosis and treatment, processing family concerns, examining family dynamics, identifying areas for growth, building family resiliency, parent and family skills training, developing healthy relationships within the family, and preparing for the teen’s return home after discharge.
Modalities: Family therapy utilizes a number of therapeutic interventions to increase the family’s awareness, understanding, and skills needed to enhance overall family functioning, build resiliency and develop deeper and more meaningful family relationships. These interventions include but are not limited to
- Structural Family Therapy
- Strategic Family Therapy
- Narrative Therapy
- Solution Focused Brief Therapy
- Family Focused Therapy
- Transgenerational Therapy
- Psychoeducation
- Skills Training
- Eco-systemic Family Therapy