Setting the Stage for Change: An Eco-Systemic Approach to in-Home Family-Based Treatment - Softcover

Jones Ph.D., C. Wayne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0984455310 ISBN 13: 9780984455317

Publisher: Center for Family Based Training, 2019

Synopsis

In this second edition of Setting the Stage for Change , a detailed road map is presented for applying a strength-based, eco-systemic family therapy approach (ESFT) to helping children and adolescents with severe emotional problems (SED) and their multi-stressed, fragile families. ESFT has proven highly effective in helping children with SED break the cycle of repeated out-of-home placements. This easy-to-read book distills the clinical wisdom gleaned from ESFT s 30-year large-scale implementation in Pennsylvania s intensive in-home family-based programs.

The book addresses not only the nuts and bolts and the how of an eco-systemic approach to treatment, but also its theoretical foundations, or the why of treatment. One full unit is devoted to methods for engaging and keeping these children and their parents in treatment a major challenge for this population given their histories of trauma, high levels of distrust, and frequent experience of failure in the behavioral health system. A second unit is devoted to the use of methods, such as systemic interviewing, enactments, relational time-lines, and genograms for contextualizing and reframing problems as relational. A third unit describes four of the most common maladaptive family structures associated with SED. These include the enmeshed family, the under-organized family, the embattled family, and the authoritarian family. A fourth unit presents an integrative framework and tools for developing a systemic case conceptualization that is child-centered and family focused which can be easily translated into a relational treatment plan.

The book is replete with case studies reflecting the realities of day-to-day clinical practice and includes reproducible clinical tools useful for both therapists and supervisors. These include a systemic case conceptualization worksheet, relational treatment plan and family safety plan templates, treatment fidelity measures, clinical skills assessments, and a glossary of concepts and terms used in family treatment.

About this title

About the Author

C. Wayne Jones, Ph.D. , is the Founder and Director of the Center for Family-Based Training, an organization devoted to systems-oriented consultation and training of behavioral health professionals serving families and their children and adolescents who have severe emotional problems. Dr. Jones is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania where he is on the training faculty of the Center for Couples and Families (CCAF). The center s mission is to provide education, clinical services, and research to advance the inclusion of family in psychiatry and medicine.

Dr. Jones has been closely involved with Pennsylvania s Family-based Mental Health Services program, a community-based initiative designed to prevent hospitalization and out-of-home placement of children with severe emotional disturbances, since it was launched 30 years ago. Dr. Jones leads a highly regarded three-year training curriculum in the application of Eco-Systemic Structural Family Therapy (ESFT) to intensive, in-home family-based treatment.

Review

Dr. Jones, in this second edition of Setting the Stage for Change , has again succeeded in distilling his years of experience as a therapist, trainer and curriculum developer into a coherent and richly detailed roadmap to help organize and respond effectively to the otherwise overwhelming reality of families in crises. The guidelines for setting up a working context for effective change are grounded on solid conceptualization and clearly translated into concrete interventions while avoiding the pitfall of straight-jacketing therapists into mechanical paint by numbers recipes. Therapists, supervisors, and trainers alike will welcome this manual that provides them with a solidly articulated frame of reference within which to exercise their clinical judgment. -- Jorge Colapinto, L.Psych, LMFT, Coordinator of Training and Consultation at the Minuchin Center for the Family.

In Setting the Stage for Change, Dr. Jones articulates a smart strengths-based eco-systemic treatment model for guiding therapists working with fragile families. These families can be overwhelming to the average therapist. This book clearly delineates critical strategies for organizing treatment delivered to these families in the home and community. Major emphasis is given to establishing collaborative treatment teams and creating safety through development of an intense therapeutic alliance. In short, anyone interested in a well-articulated, evidence-based practical guide to working successfully with this population will find this book an extremely valuable resource. -- Scott Browning, Ph.D., ABPP, Professor of Professional Psychology, Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Recipient of the APA Division 43 Distinguished Scholar on Couple and Family Psychology.

This much-needed treatment manual is by far the most valuable resource for practitioners and supervisors I have seen during my 25 years of working in Pennsylvania s Family-Based Mental Health Services Program. In this Second Edition of Setting the Stage for Change, Dr. Jones has further clarified and defined an eco-systemic clinical model to guide us in helping children who have complex and severe emotional problems, and their multi-stressed families. The book is engaging, well-organized and full of useful case examples. Anyone who has had the pleasure of attending Dr. Jones s training will immediately recognize in these pages his ability to synthesize a vast amount of information simply and practically. -- Jerryl Miller, MA, Level of Care Director, Family Based Mental Health Services, WellSpan Philhaven, Mt Gretna, Pennsylvania

Edition details

• Publisher: Center for Family Based Training
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0984455310
• ISBN 13: 9780984455317
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 380