Psychiatry and Psychiatric Disorders

Biography

Biography: Karen Perlmutter

Abstract

The Families in Recovery Skills Training (FIRST) program was founded in 2013 in the Addiction Science Division (ASD) at the MUSC outpatient clinic. FIRST came in response to the vast needs being expressed by our patient’s families for their own clinical resources. Many of them were seeking support and skills regarding enabling/co-dependency, difficulty with boundary setting, and chronic emotional/financial/physical crisis that they were experiencing as an impact of their loved one’s disease. Due to limited existing evidence-based curriculum for family addiction, the Families in Recovery Skills Training (FIRST) program was developed. The program consists of a 10-week training period for families with weekly group therapy, supplemented by individual/family therapy as needed. The program introduces practical skills to improve communication in the family, decrease unproductive dynamics surrounding addiction, address guilt and resentment, develop skills to set boundaries when necessary, and to provide families with accurate and valuable psychoeducation on the disease. We also offer an advanced therapy group for FIRST alumni who choose to continue developing and practicing their skills in a professional/clinical setting with a supportive peer group. Outcome data collection is underway, examining family changes in co-dependency, coping and impact. Data is also being collected toward increasing evidence that FIRST family participation frequently correlates with the addict/alcoholic seeking and/or remaining engaged in treatment. The presentation will include the curriculum overview, family recruitment/marketing/billing options. It will also address preliminary research findings on the programm, and discuss the introduction of the “family patient” as a target population for a clinic.