Troubled Teens

This text is a scientifically-based treatment manual for therapists who work with adolescents referred for substance abuse and behaviour problems. Based upon 17 years of federally funded clinical research, the book details the research-proven multidimensional family therapy (MDFT) approach for adolescent drug and behaviour problems. Different clinical, theoretical and empirical influences have been used together to form this integrative approach. Clinically, the treatment incorporates family therapy, drug counselling and individual therapy traditions. Theoretically, the model weaves together ecological and developmental conceptual frameworks. Empirically, the therapy's philosophy and methods reflect basic and applied science influence. The approach uses the research-derived knowledge base about how adolescent drug and behaviour problems form and how protective factors can encounter these problems to inform assessment and intervention. Four focal areas organize the treatment: the individual functioning of the adolescent; the parent(s); the family interaction; and the individual family members in relation to extrafamilial sources of influence.
There are simultaneous interventions with the individual teenager, the parent(s), the family's interaction and with persons and systems of influence outside the family.