A Weekly Family Meeting as a Treatment Model for Resolution of Family Problems
Over many centuries, we have looked to the family as a resource, a source of strength for individuals struggling with depression, alienation, abuse and other mental and physical problems. Now, however, our families are falling apart all around us. We assume that these are the poor, the homeless, and the abusive families, but it is not just the dysfunctional family or the poor family that is in danger: All families, rich and poor are suffering from a loss of social capital.
Brigham Young University and Columbia University have researched the effect of a weekly family meeting as a modality to build family social capital or strength and resiliency. The model has been tested with families in Guatemala City, Guatemala; Harare, Zimbabwe; and in Harlem, New York City, USA and has been found to be effective in sustaining every aspect of family life, opening a viable, alternative route to managing everyday stress and even severe family problems.
This paper presentation will include a review of the research and will describe the weekly family meeting model. Family manuals for implementing the model in English, Spanish, and French will be distributed to participants and the underlying treatment principles for each of ten weekly meetings will be described. Concrete examples will be given of individual family experiences with the model.