Multifamily therapy in the community mental health network: A pragmatic randomized and controlled study

Abstract

Multifamily therapy (MFT) is a psychotherapeutic group intervention for patients with severe mental disorders (SMDs) and their families. The present study is a multicenter, randomized, and controlled trial that analyzes the benefit of MFT during outpatient treatment. The recruited patients were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 26), which received 24 MFT sessions in addition to their treatment as usual (TAU), or to the control group (n = 29), which received only TAU (individual and family sessions). Six months after the inclusion in the MFT, the experimental group showed a significant decrease in number of visits to the psychiatric emergency services, number of psychiatric admissions, and the days of admission. The need for hospital care 6 months after recruitment was also lower in the experimental group compared to the control group. These results suggest that the implementation of MFT during outpatient treatment facilitates community management of people diagnosed with mental health problems.

Assessing family relations in borderline personality disorder: A relational approach

“…In contrast, there were some encouraging findings, specifically, the strong link between parental caregiving and time in the treatment of offspring with BPD. This finding suggests that the family can serve as a protective factor and promote resilience, not only act as a possible source of conflict and disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, Domínguez et al, 2022).…”

“…In summary, the literature clearly establishes the effects of family interactions on people's overall well‐being. Family interactions have been found to have a significant impact on people's health, acting either as a protective and resilience factor or as a possible source of conflict and disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, Domínguez et al, 2022). The family can be understood as an interaction circuit, meaning that the behavior of one family member will inevitably influence the behaviors of the others.…”