The Family Therapy Engagement Model (FTEM)

Among pediatric Occupational Therapists’ goals is to provide a holistic approach towards intervention planning which includes preparing the child’s social environment, especially in facilitating the carry- over of tasks in the child’s daily contexts. This model e xplores the factors contributing to the limited opportunities for family/caregiver participation during actual therapy sessions. It also discusses and integrates some of the best practice principles for family engagement that are based on the Phoenix Theory of Parent Attendance, Adlerian Play Therapy, and Discrimination model. This model was conceptualized in response to the growing need to increase family engagement during therapy in the Philippine setting, which could help them overcome barriers and strengthen their therapeutic skills and relationship with the child. Techniques and intervention processes that aim to engage the family during occupational therapy need to be further developed and studied. To fulfill this, this paper introduces a conceptual framework that maps out (1) five core elements, (2) five phases of family therapy engagement, and (3) a process checklist during the intervention process. The five core elements that affect family engagement are client, therapist, family, therapy-related, and environmental factors. This model explains how good collaboration between the family and therapists can be achieved if they undergo the preparation, consultation, planning, experiential activities, and re-education phase. The researchers suggest using this conceptual framework as a guide to understand and provide a systematic family engagement process during therapy sessions