Functional Family Therapy

The integrative and systematic nature of the Functional Family Therapy (FFT) clinical model, along with its repeated demonstrations of successful outcomes with at-risk adolescents and their families, has led to widespread community-based application in many settings with a wide range of clients. FFT can’t be adequately described by any single theoretical label. The emphasis on understanding, defining, describing, and researching the process of intervention began early in the FFT evolution. FFT has also held a core belief in the value and necessity of rigorous evaluation and clinical accountability. FFT views clinical problems multisystemically, both within the systems of the family relational units and between the family and its environmental and social context. A central element in FFT is the well-articulated, theoretically integrated, and multi-systemic principles that guide our understanding of the “presenting clinical problems” of families.