title: Family-focused treatment for bipolar disorder in adults and youth.
abstract: Levels of familial expressed emotion during an acute episode are consistently associated with rates of recurrence among bipolar patients. This article briefly reviews the evidence for expressed emotion (EE) as a prognostic indicator and then illustrates family-focused treatment (FFT) with adults and adolescents suffering from bipolar disorder. FFT is a time-limited, modularized treatment consisting of psychoeducation, communication enhancement training, and problem-solving skills. Controlled trials indicate that FFT is an efficacious adjunct to pharmacotherapy for patients with bipolar disorder. We describe its recent application to early onset bipolar patients and include a clinical vignette.
authors.affiliation: University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO 80220, USA. chad.morris@uchsc.edu
authors.forename: Chad D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Miklowitz
authors.forename: Jeanette A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Waxmonsky
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D003120:Colorado; D019260:Expressed Emotion; D005195:Family Relations; D005196:Family Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016730:Program Development