What is Multifamily Therapy ?
History and description of multifamily therapy and multi-problem families
The approach is based on clinical work with multi-problem families, pioneered at the Marlborough Family Service, London, in the mid- 1970’s by Dr Alan Cooklin and subsequently by Dr Eia Asen.
These families often tended to present not only with pyschological but also social and educational problems and, above all, intra-family violence.
To address these multiple problems, complex professional networks become engaged with these families. The clinical work with these multi-problem families takes in a specific multifamily day setting, with 6 – 8 families attending simultaneously whole days and weeks. Some of the children have either been removed from their parents and are placed with foster carers, other have been identified as being of risk of significant harm but remain with their parents. Whether or not children do live with their parents, they attend together with their parents and other families and the work offered is designed to enable families to be seen in multiple and varied contexts. Real life situations are recreated around everyday issues, enabling observation of problematic family patterns and interactions, as well as helping families to address these and find ways of overcoming their habitual difficulties and reduce family violence.
The presence of other families with very similar problems and dilemmas means that families help each other to experiment with finding new solutions, share ideas and advice and offer feedback within their peer group. Being just one of several families in largely similar situations is generally a unique experience for the families attending the family day setting and this tends to reduce the feeling of social isolation and stigmatisation. This allows families to be less defensive and more open to explore the possibilities of change.
They move from a ‘helpless’ position to a ‘helpful’ one in that they can help other families and risk issues can be explored in the safety of a group setting. During their day setting attendance the parents have full responsibility for their children, with staff assisting rather than taking over the care of the children. The treatment package is multi-disciplinary and can include input from adult and child psychiatry/psychotherapy, psychology, education, social work and family therapy. The work takes place over a period of between 6 weeks to 6 months, with some considerable variation between the respective partner centres. Furthermore, frequency and duration of attendance also depends on the individual needs of each family.
History and description of multifamily therapy and multi-problem families
The approach is based on clinical work with multi-problem families, pioneered at the Marlborough Family Service, London, in the mid- 1970’s by Dr Alan Cooklin and subsequently by Dr Eia Asen.
These families often tended to present not only with pyschological but also social and educational problems and, above all, intra-family violence.
To address these multiple problems, complex professional networks become engaged with these families. The clinical work with these multi-problem families takes in a specific multifamily day setting, with 6 – 8 families attending simultaneously whole days and weeks. Some of the children have either been removed from their parents and are placed with foster carers, other have been identified as being of risk of significant harm but remain with their parents. Whether or not children do live with their parents, they attend together with their parents and other families and the work offered is designed to enable families to be seen in multiple and varied contexts. Real life situations are recreated around everyday issues, enabling observation of problematic family patterns and interactions, as well as helping families to address these and find ways of overcoming their habitual difficulties and reduce family violence.
The presence of other families with very similar problems and dilemmas means that families help each other to experiment with finding new solutions, share ideas and advice and offer feedback within their peer group. Being just one of several families in largely similar situations is generally a unique experience for the families attending the family day setting and this tends to reduce the feeling of social isolation and stigmatisation. This allows families to be less defensive and more open to explore the possibilities of change.
They move from a ‘helpless’ position to a ‘helpful’ one in that they can help other families and risk issues can be explored in the safety of a group setting. During their day setting attendance the parents have full responsibility for their children, with staff assisting rather than taking over the care of the children. The treatment package is multi-disciplinary and can include input from adult and child psychiatry/psychotherapy, psychology, education, social work and family therapy. The work takes place over a period of between 6 weeks to 6 months, with some considerable variation between the respective partner centres. Furthermore, frequency and duration of attendance also depends on the individual needs of each family.
