An Introduction to Attachment-Based Family Therapy for Suicidal Adolescents

In this course, Drs. Diamond and Levy, briefly provide an overview of the theoretical principles, clinical strategies, and research support for Attachment-Based Family Therapy. They will describe how attachment theory can inform a family based treatment. Next, they will give an overview of the five treatment tasks: 1) reframing therapy to focus on interpersonal development, 2) building alliance with the adolescent, 3) building alliance with the parents, 4) repairing attachment ruptures and 5) promoting autonomy in the adolescent.  They will review the goals and structure of the five treatment tasks that provide a roadmap for delivering this interpersonally focused psychotherapy effectively and rapidly across mental health settings.

Presenters:
Guy S. Diamond, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Family Intervention Science, Drexel University, Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Suzanne A. Levy, Ph.D., Training Director of the ABFT Training Program at the Center for Family Intervention Science, Drexel University

Course Length: 60 minutes credit

Course Learning Objectives: At the end of the program, participants will be able to:

1. Explain how attachment and emotional processing theories can inform family therapy.
2. Discuss the purpose of the five treatment tasks.
3. Describe some of the strategies used in the five treatment tasks.

Course Supplemental Material:

1. Drexel ABFT Reference Website
2. ABFT Full Webinar Slides
3. ABFT for LGBTQ+: A Case Study
4. ABFT: A Review of the Empirical Support

Course Online Evaluation: You will be prompted with a link to an online survey at the end of the course.

Course Achievement: No certificate will be available for this course. Completion for this course will, however, show up on the user’s transcript with any other courses that have been completed on the site.