Family in treatment

Those thinking of starting a family therapy programme would be wise to question the client at referral about their willingness to include members of their family in treatment. We have found that clients are frequently more compliant at the start of treatment and therefore the earlier the question is asked, the better the chances of gaining the clients co-operation. 

In some cases it was impossible to engage the family in treatment. In this situation, rather than using the co-therapist as an observer in... 

Another challenge involves how community-based mental health clinicians can complement the delivery of services by school personnel. Sometimes, school personnel may turn to community-based mental health providers to assist students in need of more acutely intensive services provided through a continuum of care in the community (e.g., family stabilization teams, emergency room coverage, and psychiatric hospitalization). In these instances, collaboration between school and community mental health personnel is essential to engage the student and family in treatment to ensure necessary consultation and follow-up. 

Sorcin is associated with the development of multidrug resistances in leukemia and other cancels. Sorcin is also able to improve cardiac contractility independently of (3-adienergic stimulation and may prove beneficial in treatment of heart failure. A point mutation in sorcin causes familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. 

Involve families in the education and treatment plans, since family psychoeducation may decrease relapse, improve symptomatology, and enhance psychosocial and family outcomes.47... 

Miklowitz DJ, Simoneau TL, George EL, Richards JA, Kalbag A, Sachs-Ericsson N and Suddath R (2000). Family focused treatment of bipolar disorder 1 year effects of a psychoeducational programme in conjunction with pharmacotherapy. Biological Psychiatry, 48, 582-592. 

Patients and family members should be actively involved in treatment to monitor target symptoms, response, and side effects. 

Family and friends can be incredibly helpful resources in treatment if the client has a good relationship with them. As mentioned in Chapter 1, if the client has strained relationships with a certain family member or friend, it may not be wise to include that person if his or her participation threatens the client. In other instances, the client simply may not want the person to be involved. Therapists and clients should make certain that the client does want family members and friends involved prior to a therapists or counselors contacting them. Ethically speaking, it is important to respect the wishes of your client with regard to collateral involvement in therapy or treatment. Legally speaking, it is important for consent to be provided by the client for a therapist or counselor to speak with collaterals or to involve them in the therapy process. 

Treatment plans are a first step toward getting collaterals interested in treatment. One problem that I have seen while working with some clients is that although they would like their families involved, their family members feel somewhat excluded by the way treatment works. In many cases, what happens in therapy and treatment is more of a mystery to family and friends than it is to a client. Family and friends feel left out if not actively invited to participate by therapists or counselors (when the client assents to such participation), and if not adequately educated about what treatment entails. Family and close friends should be oriented to treatment in the same way as are clients. Involvement in treatment planning can be a way to orient family and close friends as well as to gather helpful information about the client and his or her world. If collaterals understand treatment better, then they will be more likely to support it. 

Family therapy in treatment centers occurs in a variety of ways. Some centers provide opportunities for weekly individual counseling or therapy for partners, or even couples therapy sessions (see Chapter 5 for more details). Many treatment programs offer group counseling or therapy sessions for family members that are similar to group sessions for clients. Some of the groups are therapeutic... 

The client likely will benefit from continued involvement of family in the therapeutic process during aftercare. Many commonly reported relapse triggers are related to relationship stress (see Chapter 7), and family therapy may help reduce relationship stress. As the client is learning how to adjust to living drug free after treatment, the family learns how to live with a drug-free loved one. 

Educate patients about the disease, and involve them and their families in its treatment... 

Another reason why practitioners did not include the extended family in the treatment and care of their problem drug-using clients was on account of the client s stated reluctance to involve them. The following drug worker said that as an agency they took their lead from this, although clearly with some reservations ... 

Hanna, G.L. (2000) Clinical and family-genetic studies of childhood ohsesslve-compulslve disorder. In Goodman, W.K., Rudorfer, M.V., and Maser, J.D., eds. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Contemporary Issues in Treatment. Mahwah, NJ Lawrence Erl-haum Associates, pp. 87-103. 

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