FAMILY BASED COUNSELING
By Heidi Evers, President, South Dakota Mental Health Counselors Association
In the course of my work with Lutheran Social Services as a Family Based Counselor, I was asked many questions, such as, "What exactly do you do?" I thought I would share a little about what this program does for youth.
Most of the time, referrals come from Court Services. Criteria include any youth involved in the court system that might benefit from intensive counseling services to include working with the entire family. The program is designed to be voluntary, although families may feel pressured by the court service officer to be involved. Lutheran Social Services' program is designed to be 6 months with the client and the client's family. This helps to assure them they will not be in counseling "forever". Extensions are allowed if progress is being made and the family wishes to continue to work on their goals. Treatment goals are established within the first month with input from the client and the family. There are several goals relating to family issues as well as separate individual goals. All goals are reviewed monthly with the family in order to encourage them to be in charge of their treatment plan and help them to identify their progress. Many different things can be accomplished in the course of family based counseling. Families identify resources that are helpful to them. This could include any extended family, close friends, neighbors, etc. Strengths are emphasized throughout the process. Groups are also offered to address parenting issues and to provide support. My experience in working with this program is that parents find it very helpful and supportive throughout the process. If needs occur, such as the family is involved with the Department of Social Services, the child has an Individualized Education Plan, or maybe just has difficulty maintaining grades to their potential, than the family can choose to have any of these entities involved in their "team meetings" which occur at different times throughout the treatment as well. As for theory, any theory can work with this approach, but I have found Multisystemic Theory to work very well with this population.
As you will note, this program is very much like the former term "home-based" services. Many of the services are provided in the home, but also includes meetings at schools, collateral contacts with many different people, possible case management duties around the community, and occasional meetings in the office.
Family based counseling is becoming popular across South Dakota, possibly because of its strong client- involvement and the emphasis on client/family strengths.
On a different note, family-based counselors as well as mental health counselors, school counselors, etc. please join the Mental Health Counselors Association and the School Counselors Association for the Impact Therapy Pre-conference being presented by Dr. Edward Jacobs on April 20, 2006 in Pierre, SD!!!! I look forward to seeing you there!