Supporting Family Systems (SFS)
Practical family-system skills for the clinicians who work with families.
A focused training for therapists, counselors, case managers, and clinical staff who encounter addiction in their work but are not planning to do formal interventions.
- NAADAC #185919
- PCB Approved
Addiction rarely affects one person. Families shape whether someone reaches treatment, stays in it, and holds on to recovery afterward, yet most clinical training spends little time on how to work with them.
Supporting Family Systems uses the family-focused approach behind the CFI model to give clinical teams a shared, practical way to engage families: how to explain treatment options, set expectations, teach healthy support, and keep the family involved without taking over the case.
- Length
- Flexible, 1 day typical
- Class size
- 15 to 30 participants
- Prerequisite
- None
- Continuing education
- NAADAC and PCB
$600 per person, open enrollment
Private group at your facility: $7,500 flat
Get the next SFS dates
Tell us a little about you and we'll send upcoming dates.
Who it's for
- Therapists, social workers, LMFTs, and counselors
- Case managers and family coaches
- Psychologists, psychiatrists, and physicians who see addiction in their practice
- Treatment-center clinical teams on a staff development day
What you'll learn
- Explain substance use disorder to families in plain language, including addiction versus dependence
- Discuss treatment options with families, including abstinence-based care, MAT, and behavioral therapies
- Teach families how to support recovery without enabling, and how, when, and why to use boundaries
- Build care plans that include the family, not just the individual
- Work through the ethical dilemmas and boundary mistakes that come up in family work
How the training runs
Understanding the family system
- Understanding SUD: mind, body, and spirit
- Recovery from what? Multiple pathways
- Family first: why adjusting the family system creates the best results
- Challenging family dynamics you will encounter
Putting it into practice
- Discussing treatment with the family
- Creating care plans for individuals and families
- Healthy support versus enabling, and using boundaries well
- Case studies, ethical dilemmas, and role play
Common questions
Do I need to be an interventionist?
No. SFS is built for clinical staff who work with families but are not planning to do formal interventions. There is no prerequisite.
Can we bring it to our treatment center?
Yes. SFS works well as a staff development day. A private group runs at your facility for a flat fee, with your whole clinical team in the room.
Is it approved for CE?
CE credits issued through NAADAC (Provider #185919) and the Pennsylvania Certification Board (PCB). Confirm acceptance with your own state board before enrolling.