Family Centered Treatment

Emotion Focused Family Therapy

Family Centered Treatment in Charlotte and Surrounding Areas

Support, Inc. offers Family Centered Treatment (FCT) in Gaston, Cleveland, Catawba and Lincoln counties as well as in the greater Charlotte area. FCT is an evidenced-based and trauma-informed treatment model and a clinically credentialed training program for both the supervisor and practitioner. FCT is delivered in the client’s home by a primary certified practitioner backed by strong team and supervisory support. The FCT model utilizes eco-structural family behavior therapy and emotionally-focused therapy models.

FCT views the family as the client and works collaboratively with the entire family system in a strengths-focused manner to improve areas of family functioning that are directly impacting the child’s identified behavioral and mental health symptoms. Families complete activity-based interventions in a collaborative manner and in a strategic order to lead to changes in family functioning.

FCT was developed to find simple and practical solutions for families facing the disintegration of the family, adjusting to the recent reunification of family members, or needing stabilization within the home due to external and internal stressors. Primary goals of FCT include reducing rates of child abuse, neglect and dependency while reducing the number of out-of-home placements and improving overall family functioning. FCT is designed to lead to internalized and sustained changes within families.

Eco-Systemic Structural Family Therapy *

FCT is a cost-effective, family trauma therapy that stabilizes youth and their families. It is used extensively with families whose children (“crossover youth”) move between the child welfare, mental health and juvenile justice systems. FCT utilizes a clinical supervision process instead of a set timeline to determine if a family has successfully completed a particular phase of treatment.

With its systemic trauma treatment focus, structured implementation process and focus on seeing the entire family as the client, FCT is truly unique. Based on experience, FCT has been refined into an evidence-based model. The four phases of the FCT model are:

Joining and Assessment: Gain family trust and identify strengths and areas of family need. Responding quickly when contacted helps to engage the family when it is highly motivated to examine and change behaviors.
Restructuring: Identify maladaptive patterns and practicing new skills. The goal at this stage is to shift the repetitive interaction patterns that make up the structure of the family so members better cope with daily tasks.
Valuing Change: The family learns to recognize and value the new behaviors they have been taught. The practitioner helps family members recognize the value of their changed behaviors, which leads to sustainable change.
Generalization: After the crisis, the family handles situations with newly taught skills and reports outcomes to their practitioner, who evaluates the changes and the family’s ability to use the strategies independently.

* Source: https://www.familycenteredtreatment.org/the-fct-model