Doing What Works: EVIDENCED-BASED FAMILY THERAPY APPROACHES WITH ADOLESCENT AND ADULT SUBSTANCE ABUSERS
Adult and adolescent substance abusers and their families can be challenging to work with. Many of these adults and youth have concurrent difficulties with self-harming, bulimia, legal and gang-involvement, and engaging in sexually risky behaviors. Often, family therapists and other mental health professionals have had limited training and experience in treating adult and adolescent substance abusers. Addiction professionals, on the other hand, may have a wealth of experience working individually with and running groups for substance-abusing adults and adolescents but have had little training or experience in doing family therapy and working with more complex substance-busing client case situations. For these reasons, many adult and adolescent substance abusers prematurely drop-out of treatment, have returned back to using shortly after concluding a course of treatment or being in a program, and family problem-maintaining patterns and unhelpful beliefs are left intact.
Over the past two decades, there have been significant advances in family therapy treatment outcome research and innovative systems-oriented therapy groups for both adult and adolescent substance abusers and their families. We also can learn a lot from self-changing substance abusers who are now flourishing in the world. In addition, research indicates that treatment programs that adopt a systemic family therapy perspective tend to have much better post-treatment outcomes, such as adults and adolescents having fewer relapses and their families sustaining their gains years after discharge.
This workshop is designed for front-line drug counselors, family therapists, mental health and school professionals, supervisors, and managers of outpatient, inpatient, and residential treatment programs that service adult and adolescent substance abusers and their families.
As a result of attending this “hands-on” practice-oriented workshop, participants will be able to:
What we know: A comprehensive overview of the major empirically-validated family therapy approaches for adult and adolescent substance abusers
Cutting back or going cold turkey?: Secrets from self-changing former adult and adolescent substance abusers that are flourishing in the world
The Blueprint for Change Plan: A client outcome-informed roadmap to possibility land
Guidelines for carefully tailoring and matching family therapy approaches, other treatment modalities, and adjunct services with the unique needs and treatment preferences of the
adult and adolescent substance abuser and his/her family
Effective strategies for engaging and retaining adult and adolescent substance abusers and their families in treatment
Interviewing for change and crafting meaningful questions to co-create compelling future realities with adult and adolescent substance abusers and their families
The Solution-Oriented Parenting Group: Empowering parents to be the agents of change with their substance-abusing adolescents
The Stress-Busters’ Leadership Group for adolescent substance abusers
Treatment guidelines for working with families with multiple substance abusers
All it Takes is One to Tango: One-Person Family Therapy with Adult Partners or Single Parents
Going at it alone: One-Person Family Therapy with adolescent substance abusers
Covering the back door: Effective family relapse prevention strategies
Facilitating transformative and solution-determined dialogues with involved helping professionals from larger systems
Trouble-shooting guidelines for getting unstuck with more complex and challenging adolescents and their families
Keys to establishing successful family systems-oriented substance abuse treatment programs for adolescents and their families
The workshop format will combine information-rich didactic presentation material, videotape examples of major therapeutic tools and strategies, live family therapy case consultations, and skill-building exercises.
