Attachment‐Based Family Therapy in a Psychiatric Inpatient Unit for Young Adults

Abstract

This paper describes the implementation of an evidence‐based family therapy program in an inpatient young adult psychiatric unit. This unit was initially organised on a cognitive behaviour therapy framework but this did not sufficiently meet the young adults’ developmental demands. The unit leadership team decided to implement attachment‐based family therapy (ABFT). This is an outpatient family therapeutic program that aims to restore ruptures in the relationships between youngsters and their primary caregiving environment. To implement ABFT, the unit staff (1) adjusted the family therapeutic model to fit the young adults’ developmental needs, and (2) adjusted the treatment milieu of the unit to support the family therapeutic sessions. In this contribution we present a descriptive evaluation of the first 3 years of experience in adjusting ABFT to meet hospitalised young adults’ needs in mental health care and in the transition of the unit into an attachment‐based family‐focused treatment milieu.