Overview of Family Assessment and Intervention

Course overview

Family therapy can be a very effective and efficient method for treating children and adolescents who are having significant emotional or behavior problems. Several brief models of family intervention have been shown to be highly effective in both decreasing the symptoms of the identified client and improving the family's ability to manage future problems they may face. However, therapists who have been trained to work solely with individuals may find the presentation of symptomatic families in the therapy room confusing or intimidating. They may feel overwhelmed or unsure about which family member to direct the most attention to in a family session. After taking this course, you will be better prepared to identify a specific approach to take when working with a family experiencing distress. You will learn about methods to improve treatment outcomes for youth through whole family assessments and treatment strategies. You will learn assessment and intervention skills that are conducive to understanding and making changes in families that may be in significant conflict or resistant to change. You will also learn key concepts about family communication, and family boundaries that will allow you to make a specific intervention plan for each session. Proven intervention and assessment techniques will be discussed and applied during interactive exercises and case examples.