Evidence-Based Solutions for Overcoming Access Barriers, Decreasing Attrition, and Promoting Change With Underserved Families.

Various definitions exist for what constitutes family therapy (e.g., Haley, 1976; Minuchin, 1974; Webster-Stratton, Kolpacoff, & Hollinsworth, 1988). In this article, we consider family therapy to encompass any intervention that targets family interactions and conceptualizes problems as existing beyond individual clients (Gurman, Kniskern, & Pinsof, 1986; Hazelrigg, Cooper, & Borduin, 1987). Numerous individual studies and several quantitative reviews have established family therapy as an effective treatment modality and the treatment of choice for many disorders (Kazdin, 1987; Shadish et al., 1993; Weisz & Hawley, 1998). However, critiques of existing service provision highlight the unfortunate fact that numerous barriers to treatment exist at multiple levels of the broader ecology, preventing many families from benefiting from these services (Imber-Black, 1988).