Development of family self-control skills

Family physicians require efficient and effective means for intervening with families of patients in order to positively affect the patient's health status. The purpose of this article is to present a new concept in behavioral intervention, family self-control skills, particularly stressing its potential use by physicians. The clinical interventions described here were developed in a family medicine clinic, and have been used successfully with several patients and families. The article identifies specific concepts and techniques found to be useful in promoting family self-control skills, and demonstrates their application in a family medicine setting. A case example is included to illustrate this approach.