          
Contact Information:
1425 NW 10th Ave
Sieron Bldg, 3rd Flr
Miami, FL-33136
V - (305) 243-4592
F - (305) 243-5577
Email - Maria
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Brief
Strategic Family Therapy
Brief
Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT) has evolved from
more than 25 years of research and practice at the Center for Family
Studies. It is a family-based approach that combines both structural and
strategic interventions. This approach targets children and adolescents
between the ages of 8 and 17 who are displaying or are at risk for
developing behavior problems, including substance abuse. BSFT
has been implemented as a prevention, early intervention, and intervention
strategy for delinquent and substance-abusing adolescents.
The goal of BSFT is to improve youth behavior by improving
family relationships that are presumed to be directly related to youth
behavior problems. BSFT also seeks to improve relationships
between the family and other important systems that influence the youth
(e.g., school, peers).
There are three components of BSFT:
Joining, which is the process of forming a therapeutic
alliance with all family members,
Diagnosis,
in which interactional patterns that allow or encourage problematic youth
behavior are identified, and
Restructuring,
the process of changing the family interactions that are directly related
to the problem behavior.
BSFT
is a short-term problem-focused intervention. The average treatment
includes approximately 12-15 sessions and lasts about 3 months. For more
severe cases, such as substance-abusing adolescents, the average number of
session and length of treatment may be doubled. Sessions may be conducted
in the office or at the family’s home, and an attempt is made to include
the entire family in treatment, with a special emphasis on engaging
reluctant family members.
BSFT
has been found to be an efficacious treatment in randomized clinical
trials in which it has been compared to individual child therapy, and
group counseling. At the Center for Family Studies, we have continuously
integrated theory, research findings, and clinical practice to refine BSFT
and improve its effectiveness for youth with behavior problems.
SAMHSA has regarded BSFT as one of the Model Programs in the field of Family Therapy
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