Clinical Consultation as a Family Intervention in Residential Treatment: Exploring What Impacts Outcomes

The Relational Re-enactment Systems Approach to Treatment model is an approach to residential treatment that embraces the need for family involvement through clinical consultation. Clinical consultation is a systems-oriented family intervention that embodies the model’s principles regarding therapeutic alliance and working through ambivalence. Families engage with treatment providers and other collaterals in an ongoing process of developing goals, creating a shared understanding of the youth, and working toward discharge. The current study explored youth characteristics and outcomes. Additionally, the investigation included comparisons between youth with and without the involvement of the Department of Children and Family Services in terms of length of stay, involvement in consultation, and sustained outcomes. Finally, therapists who work with youth and their families discussed their understanding of what differentiated successful and unsuccessful cases.