What is BSFT?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

This is an evidence-based treatment approach with the overall goal of reducing adolescent behavior problems by strengthening family relationships. Furthermore, BSFT links the family to various resources to promote positive youth engagement (Robbins et al., 2011). BSFT is short term and problem focused across the following primary steps: (1) BSFT works to cultivate a strong therapeutic alliance with each family member, (2) BSFT identifies both the individual and family patterns that negatively impact the adolescent’s behavior, (3) BSFT creates a problem-focused and practical change plan that focuses on strengths in the process of correcting the problematic family relationships, and (4) BSFT reinforces family interactions that promote abstinence and clearer interfamily communication (Fischer et al., 2007).BSFT, whenever possible, strives to keep the family intact when addressing these (and other) problems. While preserving the family system is important, this must only be accomplished if family preservation will enable the elimination or reduction of the adolescent’s substance use and associated problem behaviors and if the change can occur within the family interactions that are associated with the adolescent’s substance use. At the family systems level, the counselor intervenes to change the way family members interact, thus changing how they communicate and behave with one another. In theory, this would promote more positive family interaction, which in turn paves the way for the adolescent to reduce substance use and other problematic behaviors.