Enlisting family support in drug treatment

Drug abuse programs often experience difficulties involving clients' families in treatment. This article describes general principles and specific techniques for recruiting family members in drug abuse programs and in other treatment settings. Stanton and Todd's principles of recruiting for family therapy in drug programs generally apply, adapted to a project that involves only one family member in multifamily groups and provides psychoeducational training rather than therapy. Additional principles include: focusing on family members who live with the client, tailoring recruitment to the needs of individual families, emphasizing how the family member will benefit, addressing resistance directly, helping families to build a support network, and informing family members of what is expected of them. The psychoeducational approach shows promise as a beneficial adjunct to client-focused treatment and as a gateway to more extensive family treatment.