4 Troubled Teens Blog

Family Therapy Helps Young Bipolar Teens

A study of young teenagers with bipolar disorder found that those who participated in 21 family-focused therapy sessions recovered more quickly than those who had only three sessions during the same nine-month period. Both groups took medications.

Dr. David Miklowitz and his colleagues at the University of Colorado in Boulder divided 58 teens (average age: 14.5) into two groups. Thirty teens and their families participated in 21 50-minute sessions to improve communication skills, problem solving, and knowledge about bipolar disorder. The other 28 teens had only three 50-minute sessions dealing with relapse prevention.

The group that had more psychotherapy recovered from depression more quickly and spent less time in depressive episodes. There were no differences in recovery rates or elapsed time between depressive episodes.

This study appears in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Labels: treatment_programs, therapy, bi-polar

Posted By: Aspen Education Group