ABSTRACT

Healthy family engagement is exhibited by parent-child communication that is open and relaxed, particularly about experiences of positive and negative emotions. Secure family engagement and cohesion enable youth to acknowledge distress, engage in constructive problem-solving behavior, seek support from others, and regulate emotions. Longitudinal studies reveal that adolescents whose families were marked with conflict are more likely to develop severe externalizing behaviors compared to adolescents from more cohesive families. The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales-III (FACES III) is a very effective and simple tool that is often used to measure the level of family functioning as perceived by family members. Given the complexities of family dynamics, it is imperative for counselors to use a great deal of concreteness. For the helping professional, keep an "eye on the ball", in this case, breaking the negative three-way interactions, promoting all getting their "wants" met appropriately, and noting evidence of increased family cohesion and reduced conflict.