Multifamily Groups in Recovery: A Revised Multifamily Curriculum

The Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery (CSAR; a center within the College of Human Sciences at Texas Tech University) operates a Collegiate Recovery Community. This community provides a model of support and relapse prevention for college students recovering from addictive behaviors—primarily alcohol and drug addiction. In addition, the CSAR provides the clinical management for an inpatient alcohol and drug treatment facility, The Ranch at Dove Tree (DTR). Professionals at DTR work with individuals using a number of different therapeutic techniques including individual therapy, gender-specific group therapy, multifamily therapy groups, trauma groups, and life skills groups. This article presents a revised multifamily group curriculum developed by the authors and originally tested in an outpatient treatment program. This revised multifamily curriculum was implemented as part of the multifamily programs of both the CSAR and DTR. Preliminary feedback gathered as part of the CSAR family program is presented.