From alienation to collaboration: Three techniques for building alliances with adolescents in family therapy

Adolescents are not inclined to participate in most stapdard psychotherapies. Engaging teenagers in treatment is one of the greatest challenges for clinicians working with adolescents (Kazdin, 1990; Armbruster and Kazdin, 1994; Liddle, 1991; Szapocznik et al., 1988). Kazdin (1990) cites reports that between 50 and 75 percent of children referred for treatment either do not initiate treatment or terminate prematurely. Sporadic attendance and premature dropout have been identified as major obstacles to the successful treatment of children with conduct disorders (Liddle and Dakof, 1995a, 1995b; Prinz and Miller, 1994). If clinicians hope to effectively serve troubled teenagers and their families, they must find a way to increase adolescents’ participation in the treatment process.