Best Practices in Family Intervention for Serious Mental Illness

Manual Title	Behavioral Family Therapy for Psychiatric Disorders. (4^th ed.)
Creators	Kim Mueser, Ph.D. and Shirley Glynn, Ph.D.
Reference	Mueser, K.T., & Glynn, S.M. (1999). Behavioral family therapy for psychiatric disorders. (2nd ed.). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
Price	$49.95
Contact Information:	Kim Mueser, Ph.D. New Hampshire-Dartmouth Psychiatric Center 105 Pleasant Street Main Building Concord, NH 03301 Phone: 603-650-5000 Email: Kim.Mueser@dartmouth.edu

Program Overview:
Note: Includes a range of severe mental illnesses, including: schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and PTSD

Theoretical Orientation:
Behavioral family therapy (BFT) has a strong educational (skill-building) and behavioral focus

Program Goals:

Help families develop knowledge of relative's disorder
Improve communication skills
Improve skills in problem solving and achieving goals
Enable each family member to have satisfactory quality of life (not just the patient)

Format:
60-minute sessions are usually provided in single-family format
A combination of home-based and clinic-based sessions is optimal
The patient is typically included.

Duration:
Minimum of 6-9 months (but most require 1-2 years).
Frequency of sessions decreases over time

Phases of Treatment:

Engagement
- Explanation of BFT model
- Emphasis that the family unit is important
Assessment (performed with each individual member and with entire family)
- Assesses each person's knowledge of the illness, hoped-for changes, concerns about obstacles to change, social support, problem-solving skills, etc.
. Education (2-4 interactive sessions)
- Addresses the disorder and its treatment
- Handouts are provided
- Patient is viewed as "the expert"
Communication Skills Training
- Expressing positive and negative feelings; making requests; active listening, etc.
Problem-solving Training
- Teaches 6-step process of solving problems
Dealing with special problems (specific to each family's needs)
- Suicidality, time management, substance abuse, parenting, sexual intimacy, etc.

Manual:
Book (manual) has excellent reproducible handouts for clients/family members, including handouts on specific disorders, classes of medications, communication skills, and problem-solving skills

Research:
Research base for BFT is very strong (see manual for a complete summary as well as research summaries above under sections by Falloon, Tarrier, Clarkin, and Miklowitz).

In Baucom et al. (1998)'s summary of empirically supported family interventions for adult mental illness, the research on the effectiveness of BFT for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder is described as more extensive than the research supporting any other model of family intervention for these illnesses.

Note: Above description reviewed and approved by Drs. Glynn (12-12-02) and Mueser (12-23-02)

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