Functional Family Therapy (FFT) is a short term prevention program for at-risk youth and their families. FFT aims to address risk and protective factors that impact the adaptive development of 11 to 18 year old youth who have been referred for behavioral or emotional problems.
The program is organized in multiple phases and focuses on developing a positive relationship between therapist/program and family, increasing motivation for change, identifying specific needs of the family, supporting individual skill-building of youth and family, and generalizing changes to a broader context.
Typically, therapists will meet weekly with families face-to-face for 60 to 90 minutes and by phone for up to 30 minutes, over an average of three to six months. They work as a part of a FFT-supervised unit and receive ongoing support from their local unit and FFT training organization.