Provides information on all things social work, including direct practice (both clinical and community organizing), research, policy, education... and everything in between.
[Episode 96] In today's Social Work Podcast I speak with two of the three developers of Attachment-based Family Therapy (ABFT), Guy S. Diamond, Ph.D. and Suzanne Levy, Ph.D. The third developer Gary M. Diamond (no relation to Guy Diamond) lives in Israel and was unavailable for the interview.
ABFT is the only family-based psychotherapy with empirical support for reducing suicidal ideation in youth. In today's interview, Dr. Diamond and Dr. Levy discuss the theory and practice of Attachment-Based Family Therapy. Dr. Diamond mostly covers theory and concepts, and Dr. Levy addresses the question of "what does the therapist actually do in the therapy room."
"Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT) is a treatment for adolescents ages 12-18 that is designed to treat clinically diagnosed major depressive disorder, eliminate suicidal ideation, and reduce dispositional anxiety. The model is based on an interpersonal theory of depression, which proposes that the quality of family relationships may precipitate, exacerbate, or prevent depression and suicidal ideation. In this model, ruptures in family relationships, such as those due to abandonment, neglect, or abuse or a harsh and negative parenting environment, influence the development of adolescent depression. Families with these attachment ruptures lack the normative secure base and safe haven context needed for an adolescent's healthy development, including the development of emotion regulation and problem-solving skills. These adolescents may experience depression resulting from the attachment ruptures themselves or from their inability to turn to the family for support in the face of trauma outside the home. ABFT aims to strengthen or repair parent-adolescent attachment bonds and improve family communication. As the normative secure base is restored, parents become a resource to help the adolescent cope with stress, experience competency, and explore autonomy.
ABFT is typically delivered in 60- to 90-minute sessions conducted weekly for 12-16 weeks. Treatment follows a semistructured protocol consisting of five sequential therapy tasks, each of which has clearly outlined processes and goals:
Task 1: The Relational Reframe Task, with the adolescent and parents (or parent) together, sets the foundation of the therapy. After an assessment of the history and nature of the depression, the therapist focuses on relational ruptures. This shift pivots on the therapeutic question, "When you feel so depressed or suicidal, why don't you go to your parents for help?" The progression of this conversation leads parents and the adolescent to agree that improving the quality of their relationship would be a good starting point for treatment.
Task 2: The Adolescent Alliance Task, with the adolescent alone, identifies relational ruptures in the family and links them to the depression. The adolescent is encouraged and prepared to discuss these often avoided feelings and memories with his or her parents.
Task 3: The Parent Alliance Task, with the parents alone, explores their current stressors and their own history of attachment disappointments. These conversations activate parental caregiving instincts to behaviorally and emotionally protect their child, which helps motivate parents to learn and use new attachment-promoting parenting skills.
Task 4: The Attachment Task, with the adolescent and parents together, creates an opportunity for the adolescent to directly express his or her thoughts and feelings about past and current relational injustices. Rather than defending themselves, parents help the adolescent fully express and explore these emotionally charged topics. This conversation helps the adolescent work through trauma, address negative patterns in the relationship, and practice new conflict resolution and emotion regulation skills.
Task 5: The Autonomy Task, with the adolescent and parents together, helps consolidate the new secure base. In solving day-to-day problems, parents provide support and expectations and the adolescent seeks to develop autonomy while remaining appropriately attached to his or her parents." (http://legacy.nreppadmin.net/ViewIntervention.aspx?id=314)
[Episode 95] Hey there podcast listeners. March is Social Work Month. I know, you’re saying, but every month is social work month. Yes… that’s true… for social workers. But, social work is one of those professions that, to misquote Ogden Rogers [Episode 88], if you’re doing it well, people don’t know you’re doing it. so, let’s have a month to remind the general public of what social workers do. In that spirit, today’s episode is a quick and dirty rundown of some of the things I do for social work and some of the things I’m involved in that make social work a better profession. So, this episode is a quick and dirty rundown of upcoming episodes, resources for social work and technology, and information about my book, Suicide in Schools, published by Routledge Press in December 2014.
NASW’s theme for Social Work Month 2015 is “social work paves the way for change.” I love our profession and all that we do to pave the way for change for the oppressed, marginalized, and underrepresented in our society. I also recognize that there are social workers who have paved the way for me to change. So, every day this month I’m honoring a different social worker who has inspired me and helped me to change so I can be a better social worker. You can see my list of social workers on the Social Work Podcast Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/swpodcast, the Twitter feed @socworkpodcast.
Upcoming episodes:
•Attachment-Based Family Therapy: Guy Diamond & Suzanne Levy
•Cognitive Enhancement Therapy: Shaun Eack
•Working with Deaf People: Teresa Crowe Gualladet
•The Contribution of the Children's Bureau to Social Work Education: Alice Lieberman
•Social Innovation: Steve Anderson
•Suicide in Schools: Terri Erbacher
NASW is launching a series of Tweet Chats. Tweet chats are opportunities for people to gather on Twitter at a specified time and use a specific hashtag (that symbol that we used to call the “pound sign”) and discuss a specific topic. I’m honored to be the NASW Tweet Chat guest on April 2nd talking about “Suicide in Schools.” Laurel Hitchcock has a wonderful guide for how to participate in a Tweet Chat. If you like it, you can participate in lots of Tweet chats. Well-established tweet chats specific to social work include:
Suicide in Schools provides school-based professionals with practical, easy-to-use guidance on developing and implementing suicide prevention, assessment, intervention and postvention strategies at the individual, family, school, and community level. The book includes detailed case examples, guidelines, handouts, and internet resources on the best approaches to effectively working with youth who are experiencing a suicidal crisis as well as those students, families, school staff, and community members who have suffered the loss of a loved one to suicide. Here are some reviews of the book:
"This book provides the exact kind of practical information school staff need to know, from how to tell a parent his or her child is contemplating a suicidal act to what the school staff member's responsibility is to the child, the parent, and to the community to address suicidal risk. When combined with the detailed case examples that really bring an extra dimension to the step-by-step guides, this book becomes a must-read for any professional working in a school environment." Thomas Joiner, PhD, Robert O. Lawton Professor of Psychology at Florida State University and director of the Laboratory for the Study and Prevention of Suicide-Related Conditions and Behaviors
"A comprehensive guide for all educators seeking the current evidenced-based, model practices for suicide prevention in schools. The ‘expert tips’ reflect a wealth of knowledge gleaned from the front lines, where collaboration is essential between school psychologists, social workers, counselors, and their administrators. The authors paraphrase our national motto: ‘Everyone in the school plays a role in suicide prevention!’" Richard Lieberman, NCSP, school psychologist/consultant with the Los Angeles County Suicide Prevention Network
"Suicide in Schools is an essential, invaluable resource for all school personnel who are interested in preventing self-harm among their students. User-friendly, yet erudite, the book serves as a manual for evidence-based and innovative practices. If only this reference had been available when, as president of the National Association of School Psychologists, I issued a call to action to prevent suicide." Ralph E. (Gene) Cash, PhD, ABPP, professor at the Center for Psychological Studies and director of the School-related Psychological Assessments and Clinical Interventions Clinic at Nova Southeastern University
"This book provides a comprehensive examination of the many issues that schools face in working with suicidal youth and provides hands-on strategies that have been successfully implemented in school-based settings. The authors provide excellent case examples and practical information that aligns with clinical and research experts in the field of youth suicidal behavior. Finally, the authors structure their book to extensively explain how a multi-tiered approach can be implemented for suicide prevention, risk assessment, and management of youth suicidal behavior. This book provides exactly the help school personnel need to feel more confident in working with high-risk youth and thus is an invaluable resource for anyone working in the schools and/or working with them. It already has a place on my desk." James J. Mazza, PhD, professor and director of the school psychology program at the University of Washington
Thanks for all that you do, social workers. We’re an amazing and storied profession. Happy social work month. And keep up the good work.
"Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT) is a treatment for adolescents ages 12-18 that is designed to treat clinically diagnosed major depressive disorder, eliminate suicidal ideation, and reduce dispositional anxiety. The model is based on an interpersonal theory of depression, which proposes that the quality of family relationships may precipitate, exacerbate, or prevent depression and suicidal ideation. In this model, ruptures in family relationships, such as those due to abandonment, neglect, or abuse or a harsh and negative parenting environment, influence the development of adolescent depression. Families with these attachment ruptures lack the normative secure base and safe haven context needed for an adolescent's healthy development, including the development of emotion regulation and problem-solving skills. These adolescents may experience depression resulting from the attachment ruptures themselves or from their inability to turn to the family for support in the face of trauma outside the home. ABFT aims to strengthen or repair parent-adolescent attachment bonds and improve family communication. As the normative secure base is restored, parents become a resource to help the adolescent cope with stress, experience competency, and explore autonomy.
