THE FAMILY INCLUSIVE APPROACH

Family Inclusive Practice takes a contextual view of addiction. This allows for interventions to be used whilst ensuring significant members of the social environment in which the individual is located are included.

The FIP model supports the view that individuals influence other members in their environment, especially family, and that family members in turn have an impact on these individuals. Services can address these factors alongside medication and individual counselling. Unlike family therapy models, the focus is not exclusively on the systemic issues.

Inclusive approaches are based on these key ideas:

• Services are more effective and sustaining when they involve family and whanau.
• Interventions with clients include broader social issues.
• Family and whanau members have a right to participate in, and receive services.
• Harms associated with addiction (such as marital problems) extend beyond the individual, and these can be addressed effectively.

Family Inclusive Practice is linked to ecological, resilience and systems theories as well as behavioural and cultural approaches to practice.

ECOLOGICAL THEORY:

This approach looks at social behaviour and phenomena such as child abuse, violence, and addiction in a way that considers the complex interplay that exists between individual, relationship, community, and societal factors.

Click on these links for further information:

• A brief introduction to Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory.
• An excellent short essay on Ecological Theory.

RESILIENCE THEORY

Resilience approaches focus on identifying protective factors in individuals and families that mitigate risk promote wellbeing. These approaches focus on what works in a family and are closely linked in practice with strength- based approaches

Visit: http://www.resiliency.com/ for an introduction to resilience ideas and links to other resilience sites.

Click on these links for further information:

• A newsletter that provides an insight to strength based approaches and how they may be applied.
• An interesting article on how Strengths Based Practice is being applied to the context of mental health recovery in Scotland.
• An excellent overview and bibliography about resiliency in children and families.

GENERAL SYSTEMS THEORY:

This approach focuses on the relationship between addiction and family functioning, with the view that the addiction is maintained by system interactions. The emphasis is to work on family interactions to effect changes in alcohol and drug use.

Click on this link for further information:

• Therapeutic Perspective - Bowen Systems Theory

BEHAVIOURAL APPROACHES:

These approaches focus on the positive and aversive factors existing within a family that influence or maintain alcohol and drug use. The emphasis is on identifying these factors and developing strategies and skills to change behaviour, especially addictive behaviours.

Click on these links for further information:

• Therapeutic Overview - Behavioural Family Therapy
• Therapeutic Analysis

© KINA - Families and Addictions Trust