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Attachment‐Based Family Therapy for Suicidal Adolescents: A Case Study
Author(s) -
Scott Syreeta,
Diamond Guy S.,
Levy Suzanne A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.297
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1467-8438
pISSN - 0814-723X
DOI - 10.1002/anzf.1149
Subject(s) - suicidal ideation , attachment theory , harm , context (archaeology) , psychology , family therapy , psychotherapist , clinical psychology , suicide prevention , poison control , medicine , social psychology , medical emergency , paleontology , biology
Suicide is the primary cause of death in Australia for youth between the ages of 15 and 24. This is common worldwide as well. Unfortunately, very few treatments have been developed, tested, and successful for treating this difficult clinical problem. Attachment‐Based Family Therapy ( ABFT ) is one of the therapies demonstrating a significant decrease in suicide ideation and attempts. The effectiveness of this model may rest on the fact that ABFT targets the clinical context (e.g., family, trauma, etc.) of this problem as well as intrapsychic processes. Based on attachment theory, the model aims to help adolescents recover a more secure attachment relationship with parents so that secure‐based parenting can help protect the adolescent from future stress and self‐harm. A case study is used to demonstrate how the model unfolds, systemically seeking to repair the attachment relationships while also keeping the adolescent safe from suicidal thoughts and behaviours.