Family First Aid Program

The first day of Family First Aid is geared toward information gathering and assessment. All members of the family will receive a full Biopsychosocial assessment with a licensed clinician, engage in specific assessments utilized to measure anxiety, depression, and individual factors that lead to the program being put into place. What the family needs to know: Be prepared to share your most excellent truth regarding the personal, familial, and systemic deficiencies of the family unit. Also be prepared to talk about how much you love your family and all the things you consider strengths of the family unit. This day will include a lot of assessment so be ready to tell your story and give honest feedback on the self-report part of assessment.

After the initial day of assessment and information gathering, each member of the family will engage in an individual session with a licensed clinician. The purpose is to develop individual goals and rapport with the clinician to establish a personal stake in correcting family systemic issues. What the family needs to know: This is your time to have your voice heard as a member of this family system. Be ready to give feedback on how the current level of functioning has impacted your daily life, and how improving these things can enrich your connection with the family.

When we begin to assess and investigate our opportunities for therapeutic intervention and improvement, there will be many chances to target specific relationships that seem to be driving the impairment. This can be parental relationships, marriage relationships, and extended family relationships. The purpose here is to strengthen and refresh the interpersonal dynamics that provide a strong family unit.

What the family needs to know: Bring your honesty and an open mind to these sessions. It is often we don’t say the things we really feel or provide the feedback we want to give because we fear the potential of retribution or isolation. In these sessions we want to put “all our cards on the table” so we have a working framework for improvement. It is important to remember that our perceptions of what is “normal” or “ideal” may need to be adjusted. The “perfect family” does not exist. The goal should be a loving, caring, and supportive family that is aware of their challenges and strengths

At this phase, we link and refer to additional resources in the community for additional support. In some cases, this may not apply to everyone, but we believe that resilience and sustained improvement needs the incorporation of the entire community. What the family needs to know: Be opened minded and thoughtful of the suggestions. Some of these may be hard to hear or difficult to understand the benefit in the short term. Our long-term goal is independence from continuous therapeutic interventions. Therefore, part of that is being able to access
additional resources independently.

This is the monthly wrap up phase of intensive treatment. A family will receive a summary session as a group with every clinician involved in the programming in a treatment team style environment. All members of the family will be asked to offer feedback on their personal experiences, identifying successes and areas of continued concern.

What the family needs to know: Each month will be conceptualized as a phase of treatment. Most families will be engaging in this level of service between six to nine months. Each month will build on the other to gain skills, insight, and resilience. There will be a gradual shift moving from the Family First Aid program to individual work, eventually resulting in maintenance phase or discharge.