ABSTRACT
The Assimilative Family Therapy model is an effective and efficient means of addressing the child's/adolescent's dilemma and the family's interactions. The cooperation of the family's intra-psychic and inter-systemic patterns and issues provides a setting for the growth and maintenance of health or dysfunction. The child or adolescent is usually triangulated within the family system, and expresses the familial dysfunctions through their actions. Family issues that enhance psychological dysfunction are marital conflict, loyalty, secrets, gender issues and narcissism. When evaluating a child/adolescent, it is essential to assess the individual's levels of intra-psychic functioning. When children and adolescents are exposed to family dysfunction and increased stress, this can result in a child/adolescent "acting out. The job of the therapist is to work with the individual child/adolescent to enable anxiety discharge for "aggressive lions/acting out teens" and self-expression for "our quiet lambs/acting in teens".
