Integrative Module?based Family Therapy: A Model for Training and Treatment in a Multidisciplinary Mental Health Setting

Abstract

Thirty years ago, leaders in psychiatry expressed hope for more interdisciplinary collaboration with family therapy. Since then marriage and family therapy (MFT) has entered the mainstream of clinical practice in psychiatry and psychology. It is mandated for training in psychiatry and psychology. We propose a model for collaboration, training, and treatment in interdisciplinary mental health settings that strives to integrate empirical bodies of knowledge in MFT, psychiatry, and psychology and to provide a usable and testable clinical approach to treatment. It can be taught to trainees with various or limited training in MFT This model delineates nine critical domains that guide treatment. Flexibility is central to this model, focusing on techniques and clinical methods based on empirically supported treatments, when available, and best-practice standards.

Towards a Metamorphosis: Current Developments in the Theory and Practice of Family Therapy

“…Although the regulations for training (in the UK) do not yet reflect the changes described in this paper, there are models for training family therapists which do seek to train them for practice in this collaborative, evidence‐based world of child and adolescent mental health. Wendel, Grouze and Lake (2005) for instance describe a training course in which therapists are taught a series of modules that cover the integration of psychiatric, developmental, and cognitive aspects of practice which are integrated into the research evidence. More ‘traditional’ family functioning aspects of knowledge are also taught.…”

Integrative Module‐Based Family Therapy: Application and Training

“…They are grounded in best practices and empirically supported treatments and are designed to be applied within a framework of critical nonspecific factors known to be relevant to therapeutic outcome (e.g., joining, therapist‐family alliance, and the family’s hopes and expectations for treatment). The nine modules are as follows: (a) psychiatric and related medical conditions, (b) attachment/relationship, (c) family structure, (d) developmental, (e) affect regulation, (f) behavior regulation, (g) cognitive/narrative (h) mastery/self‐efficacy, and (i) community (for further theoretical elaboration, see Wendel et al., 2005). During treatment, the clinician selects the relevant module for intervention based on both individual assessment of psychopathology utilizing the DSM‐IV (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), and family and relational assessment that includes psychosocial modules relevant to the presenting problem.…”

“…This is especially critical in training settings. We previously proposed Integrative Module‐Based Family Therapy (IMBFT; Wendel, Gouze, & Lake, 2005), a model for treatment and training that provides a series of steps that marriage and family therapists can follow in their case planning. Utilizing this model, therapists move through a number of layers of analyses, which we call modules, in considering assessment issues relevant to child, adolescent, adult, and family functioning.…”

Thematic review of family therapy journals in 2005

“…Wendel et al (2005) developed and described integrative module-based family therapy. The model for training and treatment is designed for use in multidisciplinary mental health settings.…”