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Welcome to FFT

Your family was recently referred to Functional Family Therapy (FFT). Welcome and we look forward to working with you.  

Being referred to “family therapy” can sometimes be confusing and uncomfortable.  You are probably wondering what it will be like and what you will be asked to do. For many of us, what we know about therapy comes from the movies or TV, where the therapist always asks “how do you feel about that?” or “tell me about your background.” Other times, families who have been to different types of therapy may expect the therapist to just listen; or expect that therapy will go on forever with no end.  

You might also wonder why it is called family therapy. Family therapy does not mean your family is broken, or that it is bad in any way. For us, family therapy means that we will work with all of you to find out where you might get stuck when you all try to solve the daily issues your family faces. Family therapy does mean we will get together with all of you to help you work things out together. 

FFT is not what you might expect from “therapy”-- it is actually very different from many other programs because it is focused on your needs; helping you achieve your goals, and working together with every member of your family. FFT does not last forever, in fact, we will only work with you for 4 to 6 months. During that time our main goal is to help you and your family work together to successfully solve the daily problems that you confront. In FFT, our goal is to help give you skills so that you can handle your own struggles in your own way; not to change you as people.   

FFT is a partnership between you and your clinician. We believe that you and your family, like all families, have far more strengths than weaknesses. Our goal is to help you find those strengths and use them to solve your everyday struggles. Because FFT is based on a partnership, we will be asking you what you think, and how things are going every time we meet you. We want you all to have a voice in how we can help you. Your voice helps your clinician make decisions on how to move forward based on each family members' experiences in each session.

Functional Family Therapy (FFT) is what is called an “evidence-based” model. That means that we have done research around the world and found that FFT works successfully with many different kinds of families, in many different situations. This means that what we do together over the next few months can help, if we work together.  

 

What You Can Expect

Your FFT clinician will meet with you weekly in your home (or another place that you agree on). Usually, you will meet for one hour each time. We think everyone’s opinion from your family is important, so we will ask that everyone in the family is present for each session. You will also receive help with any practical needs you may have; whether that is food, housing, medical needs or other things. If you need more help, you can always ask and we will be there. The length of time your family is involved will be determined by the needs of your family. The FFT clinician will talk with you about how to handle the daily challenges you have, and how to successfully meet the requirements of the system that you may be faced with.  

 

Your Therapist

The therapist that works with you has either a bachelor’s or a master’s degree in Social Work, Counseling, or Psychology. Each one of them has gone through professional training on their way to a master’s degree. They also had extensive training and supervision in FFT. Each therapist is supervised each week by our FFT experts.

 

Remember…..

You and your family have many strengths. You just got stuck along the way and have been unable to find solutions to some of the daily issues that you face. Our job is to help you remember and find those strengths in a very short time -- so that you can get out of treatment and get back to everyday life in ways that are satisfying and fulfilling. We will work with you at every step in helping your family be successful.

 

Questions

We are always here to help answer your questions. Please ask your therapist or contact us with any questions or concerns. We value your ideas and feedback.  

 

For more information on FFT, visit our website: www.functionalfamilytherapy.com

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