FAMILY NETWORK INTERVENTION

Petty Creek Ranch has adopted and modified an evidence-based treatment approach known as the Family Support Network Intervention (FSN), which is designed to help parents reconnect with their troubled child. As part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s “Cannabis Youth Treatment Series,” the FSN approach has shown remarkable outcomes in promoting long-term abstinence from drugs and alcohol when used in conjunction with other traditional adolescent treatment approaches. In addition to increasing the likelihood of post discharge success, the Family Support Network Intervention seeks to re-establish parental authority, set boundaries on the child’s behavior, improve communication skills, and to help create a healthy home environment.

When a family is in crisis, it is most often the case that parental authority becomes eroded and the home structure becomes unstable, dysfunctional, and rife with conflict. We believe that the struggling teen will be at a serious disadvantage with regard to stabilizing his behavior if inadequacies in the family system are not addressed before he leaves our care. For this reason, Petty Creek Ranch will facilitate a portion of the FSN model, as the original model consists of 6 Parent Education Course and 3 in-home therapy sessions. The courses themselves are designed to address multiple issues that may be occurring at home and are titled:  

Petty Creek Ranch believes that all families experiencing a crisis with their struggling teen may benefit from courses 4-6, and will provide the complete 6 course model with 1 home visit for clients who have substance abuse issues. The home visit in this case will not be to facilitate an in-home therapy session but to assess the home environment, to advocate for your child with the school or legal system if needed, and to establish aftercare contacts in local peer support groups prior to discharge. In doing so, your son will already have a recovery coach and/or A.A. “sponsor” that he will be in communication with in the weeks or months leading up to discharge. We believe that this will help him establish a report with the local recovery community, which will be an extension of his experience at Petty Creek Ranch.