Brief psychotherapy with adolescents: individual and family approaches

Brief psychotherapy with adolescents is a widely employed clinical procedure. In this paper key principles that inform brief individual and family therapy with adolescents have been described. The most important principle is to establish and maintain a therapeutic relationship with the teen; the second most important principle is to find a focal theme or focal point for mutual work. Many adolescents respond well to a course of brief therapy arbitrarily defined here as 20 or fewer sessions. While such an approach is not "curative," it does provide the opportunity for substantial symptom relief and improved adaptation. In selecting patients for brief therapy negative exclusion factors are more helpful than positive inclusion factors. If the teen experiences brief therapy as a positive intervention, the road is paved for his/her return if and when future problems arise. Economic pressures during the next decade will favor brief therapy over long-term therapy. The most adaptive response for therapists to this challenge is to improve their brief therapy skills. A frequently neglected skill is the ability to set modest but achievable goals in brief psychotherapy. Finding a focus for therapy lays the foundation for reasonable goal-setting.