Case Studies
“Jessie and her mom were able to repair their mother-daughter relationship, Jessie successfully completed criminal drug court, and past hurts were addressed and allowed the family to move forward in a cohesive and loving way.”
Meet Jessie
Age: 19
Family: Mother & stepmother
Before MDFT: Criminal drug court - Jessie was arrested for cocaine possession when she was pulled over by police. Being 19 and a first offender, she was offered the option of participating in criminal drug court, which she and her mother were very willing to do together. Jessie’s mother had been in drug court herself with the same judge when she was a young mother. Jessie and her mother had already been in the process of working on their mother-daughter relationship, both being aware that Jessie needed to make the transition to young adulthood. Mom struggled with appropriate parent-child boundaries and had her own difficult intimate relationship with her partner. Jessie struggled with past hurts from Mom’s addiction when she was a child and dealing with Mom’s partner, who was physically aggressive with Jessie. Jessie had very limited self-care/healthcare practices or a positive sense of how to take control of her life.
MDFT Treatment Focus:
Eliminating substance use and adopting a drug-free lifestyle for Jessie and renewing Mom’s focus on her own recovery given her daughter’s crisis
Complying with the drug court program, which required testing negative for all substances, appearing weekly for court, demonstrating progress in academics/employment, and generally managing the demands of the program.
Developing self-care practices and proactive healthcare practices, particularly in the face of an unexpected and difficult pregnancy that spiraled into a medical crisis
Evolving in the sense of who Jessie wanted to be as a young woman and developing the capacity for a healthy intimate relationship
Working out past hurts and current family relationships, particularly between Jessie and Jess, and the challenges posed by Jess’ partner; Mom ultimately left her partner in order to care for her daughter and take a stand for the type of relationship she wanted for herself
After MDFT: Jessie and Jess were able not only to repair their mother-daughter relationship but to develop a new relationship based on mutual respect and care appropriate at Jessie’s level of development. Jessie remained clean of all substances and she successfully completed criminal drug court. Jessie developed self-care and self-love practices. Jess’ difficult relationship ended, and the past hurts between Jessie and Jess were addressed, which allowed the family to move forward in a cohesive and loving way.
Read the full case summary.
Meet Isaac
Age: 17
Family: Mother & grandparents
Before MDFT: Drug use since age 11 related to mental health problems including severe anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms stemming from exposure to domestic and community violence. Isaac was both using and selling drugs. He had tried several other unsuccessful treatments including a residential program. He was in constant, and often violent, conflict with his mother, had few social ties and was failing in school. He was on community probation at the time of his referral to MDFT and was at very high risk of being placed in a long-term commitment facility. Isaac was open-minded and loved his mother deeply despite their violent conflicts. However, he held strong feelings of resentment toward his father who left him and his mother to start another family.
MDFT Treatment Focus:
Improve communication between Isaac and his mother, including listening, problem-solving, and talking in a way that they could understand each other and not get defensive
Develop Isaac’s emotional regulation skills to reduce violence and confrontational dialogue, and increase understanding by being able to listen without reactivity
Help Isaac establish personally meaningful long-term goals and build self-awareness of how his continued drug use and criminality interfered with a positive life plan
Build Isaacs’s belief in himself and hope for his future
Improve mom’s self-care practices and help her engage in therapy for her own issues
Help Isaac’s mother set developmentally appropriate expectations, function as the mother in the relationship even when not feeling her best, and begin to believe in and trust Isaac
After MDFT: Isaac's case demonstrates how MDFT’s focus on multiple domains—the youth, parent, family, and community—work synergistically to create deep, lasting, and positive change. There was significant change within Isaac, in his mother as a person and in her parenting practices, in the relationship between mother and son, and in how they interacted with their community and accessed critical resources and support.
Meet Joy
Age: 18
Family: Mother and Father (Divorced)
Before MDFT: Drug and alcohol addiction, depression, school failure. Joy had just flunked out of her first year of college and had a long history of substance use and depression including several suicide attempts. In the midst of this, Joy was also insightful and intelligent.
MDFT Treatment Focus:
Challenge Joy to examine the discrepancies between her dreams and goals and her current behavior, especially addressing how she would like her life to change and developing action plans to help Joy stop using drugs and alcohol, manage her emotions, and get her life on a healthy developmental trajectory
Help mother and father resolve their parenting differences and clarify their expectations for Joy and their parental roles
Help Joy to develop a strong sense of self, resolve cultural identity issues, and establish a positive peer network as an emerging adult
Foster better communication between Joy and her parents about matters of everyday life and to heal past and current hurts and resentments
After MDFT: The journey with Joy and her parents over the course of six months of therapy, although challenging in many ways, was a success story. Joy's therapy highlights the many themes that develop during the transition from adolescence into young adulthood and describes the MDFT therapist's role in helping youth and parents work through these issues and make the many changes necessary for successful preparation for this new life stage. It is also one of many examples of how MDFT works with parents to be a team despite conflict and separation.
Meet James
Age: 17
Family: Mother
Before MDFT: School failure and truancy, drug use, general disregard for mom’s rules. James was 17 and still in the ninth grade. Mom was at the end of her rope. James was also funny, social, well-liked by peers.
MDFT Treatment Focus:
Help mom develop skills to enable her to better regulate her emotions, and influence James in a more effective manner
Minimize the risk of neighborhood and negative school influences on James
Help James establish life goals and develop tangible steps for reaching them, including tools to help him reduce his drug use
Facilitate communication between James and his mother to emphasize feelings of love and concern
After MDFT: James’ case demonstrates the importance of addressing both parental despair and hopelessness as well as parenting skills, improving the emotional relationship between mother and son, addressing neighborhood risk factors, and helping James discover his healthy and positive self. The therapist helped both James and his mother set forth and focus on concrete goals that each would work to achieve. As therapy ended, James and his mother focused on his plans to attend Job Corps. James’ mother was proud of her son, and James was able to express his appreciation for her in hanging in with him through it all and how he would continue to need her support.
Read the full case summary.
Meet Ryan
Age: 17
Family: Mother
Before MDFT: Ryan’s drug use, mom’s drug use, break-down of their relationship. Ryan’s mother, Marge, is a single parent with a history of cocaine addiction and current alcohol dependence; she feels like a failure as a mother and does not know how to help her son. Ryan is resistant to treatment and acts independently from his mother.
MDFT Treatment Focus:
Help Ryan identify life goals, plans to achieve his goals, and learn to regulate his emotions and express them in a healthier and less destructive manner
Help Marge address her own substance misuse, establish self-care practices, utilize available supports as a single parent, and adopt new parenting skills
Facilitate communication between Ryan and Marge to help them reconnect and resolve past feelings of abandonment and neglect, and to enhance their communication and family problem-solving skills
Empower Marge to work more effectively with Ryan’s school and to organize pro-social activities for Ryan
After MDFT: Ryan’s case demonstrates the importance of addressing the pain of the past and improving communication between youth and parents, to empower parents with the skills to cope with their own problems, and to enhance parenting practices. It is an example of how we work as allies of single parents to build support so that they can become the excellent parents they want to be and not be overwhelmed. By the end of treatment, both Marge and Ryan had stopped using alcohol and drugs. During the final session, they were able to communicate to each other the many positive changes they had both made during the course of treatment.
Read the full case summary.
Due to the sensitive nature of our work, all case study names and identities have been altered for confidentiality.
What People Are Saying
“Before treatment school was not my best friend. I didn’t like being there. I got in constant trouble. I didn’t do my work. I wasn’t even motivated to stay in school. After the treatment, I changed my attitude. It’s good not to argue with my parents all the time about my grades, and to not worry about being kicked out...The program helped my parents and me talk without screaming. We listen to each other...The MDFT therapist helped me get into another school and I’m glad they helped me to get there. It is amazing and really different from both high schools I went to previously. I like it a lot.”
— Youth in Miami