Using systemic reflective practice to treat couples and families with alcohol problems.

Accessible summary • Alcohol services in the UK generally treat clients from an individual medical and psychiatric perspective. Carers, partners, children and other family members are infrequently actively involved in the clients' care process. • A reflective family-based approach was introduced in an attempt to improve treatment engagement with drinkers with relatives. Favourable findings from several self-reporting research and evaluation studies are provided and analysed. • The use of this intervention was found to be effective in facilitating change in drinking and relationships. Family members when involved in the care management proved to be influential in the behaviour change process. • Family group reflecting interventions should be used more extensively and involvement of partners and family members in care programmes should be promoted. Implications for the extended use of the intervention both in addiction settings and wider health and social care practice are discussed. In the UK, an adult with a drinking problem is generally treated from an individual perspective with minimal involvement of carers and relatives. In response to this gap in service provision, a systemic reflecting intervention was introduced to assist couples and families experiencing alcohol-related difficulties. The article documents the background and development of this initiative. Findings from evaluation and clinical outcome studies are reviewed and demonstrate how the use of the approach proved to be effective in facilitating positive change both in drinking and family behaviour. In conclusion, the paper explores the implications of how systemic reflective practice with family groups may be extended and be usefully used in wider addiction, diverse mental and general health-care settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]