Topic: Alcohol/Drugs/Tobacco, Behavioral Problems, Relationships, Antisocial Behavior
Target Population: Adolescents, Families, Middle Childhood
Sector: Community-Based
This program is for youth who are 6 to 17 years old and exhibit or are at risk for developing behavioral problems and their families.
Brief Strategic Family Therapy® (BSFT®), a community-based, family treatment program, is designed to reduce youth delinquency and drug use and other problem behaviors, such as conduct issues, by improving family interactions and strengthening relationships among family members and other systems, including school and peers.
Multiple randomized control trials conducted on the BSFT program suggest that the program produces positive results for most outcomes. Participating families had significant reductions in adolescent conduct disorder and socialized aggression from pre to posttreatment and improvements in family functioning at a 1-year follow-up compared to adolescents in the control group. Families receiving the BSFT program were also found to be significantly more engaged in therapy than the control families receiving individual and family therapies. Longer term follow-up demonstrates lower incidence of lifetime and past year arrests, lower rates of lifetime and past year incarcerations, and lower externalizing behaviors for BSFT youth compared to youth in treatment as usual (TAU). Results for substance use are mixed. No external evaluations have examined substance use as an outcome. Internal evaluations find some positive shorter-term effects, but long-term follow-up indicates no differences between BSFT and TAU in drug use.
The BSFT program uses intervention components to recognize and address harmful family interactions and operates on the assumption that adolescent maladaptive behavior is caused by unhealthy family interactions, inappropriate family alliances, overly rigid or permeable family boundaries, and a parent's inclination to think that an individual (i.e., adolescent) is responsible for the family's problems. The program consists of 12 to 16 family sessions that are conducted in a location convenient to the family, such as the family's home.
There are three intervention components of the BSFT program:
One full-time therapist can provide the BSFT program to 15 to 20 families for in-office sessions and 10 to 12 families for in-home sessions. Family therapy sessions are video recorded for supervision and consultation purposes.
The BSFT program has been implemented across the United States and in Europe and South America.
This program is implemented by therapists who have a master's degree in social work, marriage and family therapy, psychology, or a related field. Training consists of a series of three on-site or online workshops and a supervised practicum. Please visit https://brief-strategic-family-therapy.com/bsft-training/ or use details in the Contact section for more information.
Considerations for implementing this program include acquiring participant buy-in, hiring therapists who have a suitable educational background and ensuring they receive training, finding a suitable location to deliver sessions, and offering sessions during hours that are convenient for families.
The Clearinghouse can help address these considerations. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
If you are interested in implementing BSFT, the Clearinghouse is interested in helping you!
Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
BSFT is implemented in 12 to 16 60- to 90-minute sessions over 4 months. The number of sessions will vary depending on family needs.
Program costs vary. The average cost per youth is $3,500. Please use details in the Contact section for more information.
To move BSFT to the Effective category on the Clearinghouse Continuum of Evidence at least one well-designed evaluation must be conducted in a diverse population that demonstrates sustained, positive outcomes, including substance use outcomes.
The Clearinghouse can help you to develop an evaluation plan to ensure the program components are meeting your goals. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
Contact the Clearinghouse with any questions regarding this program.
Phone: 1-877-382-9185 Email: Clearinghouse@psu.edu
You may contact Brief Strategic Family Therapy Institute by mail 1120 N.W. 14th Street, Suite 1036, Miami, Florida 33136, phone 1-305-243-7585, email bsft@med.miami.edu, or visit http://bsft.org/contact
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