He has overseen the design and installation of the family treatment program for Bayside Marin, Morningside Recovery, Safe Harbor Treatment Center for Women, Casa Capri/Windward Way and other national-level programs. In addition, he conducts a twice-monthly therapy group for parents of troubled teens and stuck young adults and has historically conducted an annual healing workshop for families of the White Mountain Apache Reservation in Whiteriver, AZ. Parents of a loved one suffering from a substance use disorder may seek out individual therapy or counseling. Research has shown that parents benefit from treatment geared toward their own coping and well-being. Family Therapy involves the individual with a substance use disorder and at least one other person who is considered family.
Please peruse our website to learn more about our treatment model and the approaches we employ, the workshops we offer, our founder and clinical team, and the training services we provide to clinicians working with wounded families at any level of care. Kenneth Perlmutter, PhD, Founder of the Family Recovery Institute and a licensed psychologist (PSY25112) specializing in Family Systems, brings 30 years of experience working with complex psychological and behavioral health disorders. In 2008 he founded family therapy recovery research institute The Family Recovery Institute to provide multi-disciplinary treatment for individuals and families including dynamic therapy, family systems work, group therapies, healing workshops and clinician training. He has pioneered and validated a theory of family system woundedness with a corresponding recovery model he calls Stress-Induced Impaired Coping. This approach, uses encouragement and motivation to inspire a family member suffering from substance use disorder to seek out addiction treatment themselves. This approach, known as CRAFT (Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training) was found to be 2x more effective than the Johnson Intervention and 3x more effective than Al-Anon/Nar-Anon Facilitation, a 12-step mutual-help approach.
Clients appreciate his warmth, genuine curiosity, and grounded nature as well as his openness to the many ways people express themselves in relationships and in society. Beyond his clinical work, he finds enrichment in his hobbies of being a musician and writer as well exploring his interest in philosophy and mythology. Lastly, he has worked with and researched the intersection of chronic physical illness/disability and mental health. His particular focus involves stress and pain management in autoimmune disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis.
Fun activities with others in recovery and building relationships with recovery role models is central to the recovery process for many. Dr. Kenneth Perlmutter, Family Systems Psychologist, brings more than 30 years’ experience to lead FRI’s dedicated clinical team and pro-vide direct services. By receiving training in administering the FDA approved opioid overdose reversal medication Narcan® (Naloxone), families can be better equipped to prevent the death of a loved one. The Addictionary is a glossary that can help family members identify stigmatizing words and offer alternative non-stigmatizing language.
- Historically, substance use disorders have been viewed as an individual problem (a moral or character flaw of the individual) and thus have been treated individually and in isolation.
- His particular focus involves stress and pain management in autoimmune disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis.
- Interventions to address substance use disorder vary widely in format and style, but often share a common desire of seeing a loved one enter into addiction treatment.
- Without adequate self-care, personal resources can run low leading to mental and emotional turmoil, resentment, hostility, exhaustion, and eventually burnout.
- Parents of a loved one suffering from a substance use disorder may seek out individual therapy or counseling.
We need scientific research to improve the effectiveness of addiction treatment and recovery efforts, to find out what is and what is not working, and why certain pathways to recovery work for some individuals and not others. More than 35 states in the U.S. have civil commitment laws in place, that allow family members or healthcare providers to petition the court, to involuntarily send an individual with severe substance use disorder to inpatient addiction treatment to prevent serious harm. Research has shown that incorporating family members, family education, and family therapies into addiction treatment and recovery positively impacts both the patient and family members.
Cognitive-Behavioral Approaches (CBT)
We practice intentional ways of interacting, listening, and loving to empower our clients to shift toward wellness and interrupt impaired coping in the present and future generations. Jacqueline is a trained group facilitator for Seeking Safety™ trauma recovery groups, SMART Recovery™ and Centering Meditation™. To conduct research on successful sustained recovery, predictors of relapse, and emerging treatment technologies to enhance long-term recovery outcomes.
Dylan Kersh, MFT, Director of Training
Boundaries create clear expectations for behavior that can work to protect family members from substance-induced harms and support recovery. Substance use disorder is one of the most stigmatized health conditions in the world, and family members often also experience feelings of guilt, embarrassment, and shame related to a loved ones substance use. The formal development of Family Therapy began with the child guidance and marriage counseling movements of the early 1900s, and further materialized with the creation of the American Association of Marriage Counselors (now known as AAMFT) in 1942. From early influences of psychoanalysis and social psychiatry, a multitude of different and distinct schools of Family Therapy developed.
DRUG AND ALCOHOL TREATMENT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Jacqueline draws upon her three decades of long-term recovery to inform her model and method for the spiritual journey of addiction recovery and/or her clients’ search for meaning and reconnection with their authentic, sacred self. Publishes the Recovery Bulletin, a free monthly e-publication summarizing the latest and best research in addiction treatment and recovery. At the Recovery Research Institute, we know that stable and long-term recovery from alcohol and other drug use disorders is possible. Rates of recovery can continue to be improved through focused scientific investigation and a commitment to public education. Dr. Perlmutter takes a systemic and inter-generational view, combining current knowledge with his deep personal experience of addiction and family dysfunction to guide readers toward understanding their family systems, their positions in them, the forces that keep things stuck, and a way out.
A meta-analysis found Family Therapy to be the most effective intervention for decreasing substance use in adolescents. As a category, research has found Family Therapy to be more effective than comparison conditions across multiple studies (Tanner-Smith, Wilson, & Lipsey, 2013). Facilitated discourse to increase awareness and education is the cornerstone of Family Therapy to allow for asking questions and to inspire dialogue among family members.
- Commonly reported emotions from affected family members include feelings of abandonment, anxiety, fear, anger, concern, embarrassment or guilt.
- Addiction is often referred to as a “family disease” to highlight the impact that substance use disorder can have, and the interrelated nature of, substance use within family units.
- Our work shows family members and therapists how to create shifts in the family toward wellness and freedom from despair, chaos, pain and loss.
- It involves loved ones holding a meeting to lovingly but firmly communicate with the individual about their substance use, in an attempt to improve the situation and compel their loved one to seek treatment.
- Engaging significant others and loved ones in treatment increases the likelihood that the patient will stay in treatment and that treatment gains will be sustained after treatment has ended.
Training/Consulting
By gently examining how and why families make decisions, members can more reliably navigate toward thoughtful, balanced responses that make sense financially, systemically, emotionally and spiritually. Research has found that continued familial conflict or continued substance use by family members can increase rates of relapse in other family members working towards recovery. Employing strategies to positively solve conflicts, build familial harmony, and strengthen relationships can help facilitate long-term recovery. Family members can be a significant agent of support to a loved one in recovery by developing awareness of, and working to help manage potential environmental or social triggers. Boundaries are rules that set limits on what is and is not acceptable in any given relationship.
Engaging significant others and loved ones in treatment increases the likelihood that the patient will stay in treatment and that treatment gains will be sustained after treatment has ended. Important education topics for family members include everything from the nature of substance use disorder and risk factors, to high quality treatment indicators and options, to learning about boundary setting, self-care, and identifying stigma. Whatever your family situation, one or more of our Family Systems-based formats will offer hope and healing. We often do our most effective work when family members make use of more than one service; for example, having a problem-plagued member work with one of us individually while the family overall participates in family sessions, workshops or intensives and/or the parents attend the parent therapy group. Our team meets regularly to review our cases, hone our skills, and maintain integrity and fidelity to highest ethical principles. Most family solutions provided these days for addiction or mental illness focus on the addict, the patient, and their disease.
By the 1970s, the strict distinctions between different schools of thought began to soften, moving away from theoretical purism. Today, modern Family Therapy is often an eclectic mix of different strategies, techniques, and theories from across the different Family Therapy approaches. We translate the technical science of addiction medicine to allow audiences at every level of expertise to understand and engage with important findings.
In controlled studies conducted primarily with parents and spouses of adults with substance use disorder, CRAFT has consistently produced higher rates of treatment entry for the person of concern (the loved one suffering from addiction). In the CRAFT approach, a therapist will work with the family or concerned loved ones to practice self-care, create an environment that promotes abstinence, and prepare a treatment and recovery plan in preparation for a time when the loved one is ready to pursue treatment and recovery. An important note to remember is that the effectiveness of addiction treatment involves a multitude of factors. This approach, sometimes referred to also as the Johnson Intervention, has been recently popularized with mainstream shows such as “Intervention,” but is known to be less effective than other strategies.
Therapy engages participants in applying behavioral strategies taught during sessions, and teaches participants new skills and understanding of not only each other, but of helpful and harmful behaviors that work to either dissuade or support recovery. At the Recovery Research Institute (RRI), we present the evidence about addiction treatment and recovery. To enhance the public health impact of addiction recovery science through the summary, synthesis, and dissemination of scientific findings and the conduct of novel research.
Dr. Perlmutter has dedicated his career to improving life in families with addiction or severe mental illness in their midst. Employing his model of Stress-Induced Impaired Coping and its companion recovery program, he has worked with hundreds of families since first doing so in 1990 at the Boyer House Foundation. Kenneth and his teams have been treating families caught in inter-generational cycles of addiction and mental illness for nearly 30 years. A small group of national-level treatment teams today incorporate the model and its engagement strategies for families.