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Family Focused Therapy for Bipolar Disorder

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Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy

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Name of Model

Family Focused Therapy for Bipolar Disorder (FFT)

Introduction

Family focused therapy (FFT; Miklowitz 2008) is an evidence-based, time-limited, and modularized treatment intervention for adults and adolescents with bipolar disorder (BD) and their caregivers designed to be implemented following recent episodes of the disorder and often in conjunction with pharmacotherapy. This treatment modality consists of conjoint sessions with immediate family members and caregivers focused on psychoeducation regarding the symptoms and etiology of BD, communication enhancement training, and problem-solving skills training aimed at reducing conflict and resolving family problems. FFT is grounded in research on expressed emotion (EE), a construct that has been applied in working with families of patients with schizophrenia, major depression, and other psychiatric conditions. EE refers to the expression of critical attitudes, hostility, or emotional over-involvement (EOI;...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Professional Psychology and Family Therapy, Seton Hall University – College of Education and Human Services, South Orange, NJ, USA

    Katherine A. Fackina

Authors
  1. Katherine A. Fackina
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katherine A. Fackina .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Jay L. Lebow

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Anthony L. Chambers

  3. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Douglas C. Breunlin

Section Editor information

  1. Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, USA

    Corinne Datchi

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Ryan M. Earl

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Fackina, K.A. (2019). Family Focused Therapy for Bipolar Disorder. In: Lebow, J.L., Chambers, A.L., Breunlin, D.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_169

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