What is MFT-AN?
Multi Family Therapy for Anorexia Nervosa (MFT-AN) is an intensive group program for families with a young person experiencing AN
The program involves 5-8 families in an intensive 4-day workshop, followed by a number of single day workshops over a period of several months. MFT-AN draws on the principles of single-family therapy for AN (FBT-AN) and consists of structured and guided activities, including active support at meals, group therapy, family therapy and psychoeducation along with creative and reflective activities.
MFT-AN promotes a return to physical wellbeing through weight restoration and normalised eating, as well as encouraging appropriate adolescent development and strengthening family relationships. MFT-AN provides an intense, collaborative environment for families to share experiences and practise new ways of doing things.
Objectives
- Exploring the impact of the illness on families
- Increasing insight and understanding into the illness (building reciprocal empathy and trust)
- Improving family communication, healing relationship breeches
- Enhancing skills in tolerating distress and regulating and expressing emotions
- Specific strategies for meal times, trying out new behaviours, eliciting new responses to AN symptoms
- Normalising eating behaviours/challenging AN
- Empowering parents to take charge
- Rediscovering hope and increasing motivation for recovery
- Creating support, solidarity, community
My eyes have been opened to the number of supports and resources and I feel motivated and supported to go back and make positive changes in my organisation.
Evidence Informed Dietetic Practice for Eating Disorders
Training
Training for Multi-Family Therapy for Anorexia Nervosa MFT-AN will provide mental health clinicians with an introduction to MFT-AN through immersive experiential activities and didactic learning.
The training is based upon MFT-AN as manualised in ‘Multi-Family Therapy for Anorexia Nervosa: A Treatment Manual’ (Simic et al., 2021). The training workshop utilises material from the Maudsley MFT training with attention to the Australian context.
Participants will:
- Learn the key MFT-AN treatment concepts
- Experience the activities used in the 4-day workshop
- Understand the facilitation skills needed for successful implementation
The workshop will run as an experiential group so participants will see the facilitation skills demonstrated and have an opportunity to practise. Participants who attended previous MFT training reported that the workshop was very helpful for their work as FBT clinicians.
Please note: this training requires prerequisite training. For more information on required training please click here.
