Use of the Identified Patient as the Helper in Family Therapy

Family therapy can be used as an effective intervention to help alcoholic mothers and their children. The Adlerian approach to family therapy views the alcoholic family as discouraged, and treatment strategies are designed to increase the social interest of the mother as well as to increase her parenting skills. A case study is presented of an alcoholic mother who has an only child in a residential treatment center. In birth order dynamics, the only child has a tendency to be overly responsible or “parentified.” The family therapist capitalized on this trait by introducing parenting material to the child and encouraging the child to present this information to his mother through various role-plays. The mother actively participated in the sessions, thus increasing her knowledge of responsible parenting and building her self-esteem.