Workshop Description: This workshop will provide an overview of the core components of Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT) and relevant populations and settings. AF-CBT is a trauma-informed behavioral intervention for families who exhibit or are at risk for problems with anger, aggression, and/or child physical abuse (www.afcbt.org). AF-CBT seeks to improve relationships between children and their caregivers using a comprehensive approach that targets the risks for conflict and coercion and the clinical consequences of its exposure. As such, AF–CBT is designed to work with a broad range of families engaged in verbal and/or physical aggression, whether the referral focuses upon the caregiver who has used harsh physical discipline, the child who has behavior problems, or the highly conflictual or “at-risk” family. The workshop provides a comprehensive overview of the model and its content, research outcomes, and training opportunities. Examples of appropriate families will be provided and discussed to highlight key family processes that underlie the use of coercion and hostility (e.g., relationships, reframing, rules and roles, family routines). Participants are encouraged to raise questions and request further information.

Objectives:

1. Describe the AF-CBT model, including targeted skills and treatment phases.

2. Communicate to one’s agency the clinical considerations for agency-wide implementation of AF-CBT.

3. Identify families who are appropriate for AF-CBT.

Speaker Biography: David J. Kolko, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, Pediatrics, and Clinical and Translational Science, at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He directs the Special Services Unit at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, a program devoted to the development and dissemination of evidence-based practices for children/adolescents who are victims and/or perpetrators of physical/sexual aggression being served in diverse community settings, such as juvenile justice, child welfare, pediatric primary care, and mental health. He is co-developer of Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT; www.afbt.org), an intervention to improve family relationships for those experiencing anger and conflict, aggression and punitive discipline, and child physical abuse, or child behavior problems.