MDFT with TAUA Unique, Co-Designed Family-Based Therapy

Participant dyads in this arm will receive up to 20 sessions of the adapted Multi-Dimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) intervention in addition to services received as part of their treatment as usual (TAU) received as part of their specialty treatment court program.

This arm receives the normal services offered through the specialty court treatment program they are currently enrolled in. This typically includes individual and group therapy sessions focused on substance use and mental health, case management, and wrap-around services related to housing and basic needs.

The adapted MDFT will be delivered during a 12 week period (max of 20 sessions). The adapted MDFT seeks to support reductions in opioid use by targeting improvements in family factors (e.g. family conflict/stress, support, functioning, and familial substance use) that relate closely to substance use and treatment outcomes. Participant dyads come together to navigate and problem-solve family-level challenges. In session, participants will learn new ways to communicate, receive support to mend damaged relationships, build trust, and ultimately develop new strategies of supporting one another's needs with emphasis on supporting women's reductions in substance use. Interventionists work with family dyads to address problems underlying familial stress, conflict, and low support as they arise. Successful strategies to navigate these challenges in session are then translated to outside of sessions to promote self-sustaining changes within families.

Specialty Treatment Court services include individual and group therapy sessions focused on substance use and mental health, case management, and wrap-around services related to housing and basic needs.