Multisystemic Therapy (MST) for Youth Offending, Psychiatric Disorder and Substance Abuse: Case Examples from a UK...

The paper illustrates the MST treatment model with three types of presenting problem in young people aged 14-15.

The MST model is described and then illustrated with detailed case material from a violent young person convicted of robbery, a young person with a history of serious self-harming behaviour and hospitalisation, and a young person persistently smoking cannabis.

All three cases improved after the MST intervention despite disparate presenting problems that included re-offending, the elimination of self-harming behaviour and a significant reduction in the use of cannabis. The three young people were re-integrated into the education system.

This case series illustrates the potential uses of the MST model in CAMHS although RCT data are needed to replicate the effectiveness of MST in the British context.