A Relational Frame for Substance Use Disorders

 Earn 5 CE Contact Hours

The Ackerman Institute for the Family is offering an upcoming in-person workshop focused on treating Substance Use Disorders (SUD) through a systemic, relational lens. This workshop is ideal for clinicians seeking practical, theory-informed tools to work with individuals, couples, and families navigating substance use.

Learn how to support young adults, teens, struggling with substance use while engaging caregivers and family systems in the healing process.

Explore therapeutic strategies for working with couples affected by substance use, including harm reduction, intimacy repair, and co-regulation.

Substance use disorders can create a divide between individually focused treatment and systemic family therapy. This workshop bridges that gap by integrating substance use intervention with relational practices. Drawing on our experience in outpatient substance use treatment and the Ackerman Relational Approach, we will provide clinicians with practical tools to better support individuals and families coping with substance use problems and addiction. The focus will be on helping families maintain connection and resilience throughout the recovery process.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Learn strategies to externalize addiction, elevate family strengths, and support relationships.
• Build knowledge of addiction dynamics and treatment models.
• Apply systemic relational techniques to enhance treatment for substance use disorders.

Who Should Attend:

Mental health professionals, therapists, counselors, social workers, and clinicians who work with individuals, couples, and families impacted by substance use and are seeking systemic, relational strategies to support treatment and recovery.

Meet Our Presenters:

Molly Bobek is a licensed clinical social worker and family therapist. She supports the clinical components of Partnership to End Addiction’s research projects aiming to support the adoption and sustainability of family therapy for adolescent substance use. Molly is also on the faculty at the Ackerman Institute for the Family and maintains a private practice working with families, couples, and individuals.

Salah Bustami, LMHC, is a teaching fellow in Foundations of Family Therapy, and is a graduate of Ackerman Institute’s Clinical Externship Program. Salah has extensive experience in the field of substance abuse working with individuals, families and groups. He currently works as the Director of Family Services at Freedom Institute where he facilitates counseling sessions for individuals, couples and families affected by substance abuse. As someone who has lived and grown up in several different countries and a diversity of cultural contexts, Salah is committed to providing culturally aware care to families.

Genoveva Garcia, LCSW, is a bilingual psychotherapist in New York City. Genoveva received her master’s degree from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. She holds a Psychology Degree from Mexico, (Licenciada en Psycología) by the Instituto Tecnológico y Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO). Genoveva is a graduate of the Ackerman Institute and currently serves as faculty at the Institute. She is the Associate Director of the Latinx Youth and Family Immigration Project. In addition to these roles, she maintains a private practice in New York City. Genoveva’s personal experience as an immigrant from Mexico and her journey as a family systems trained psychotherapist inform her commitment to working with diverse communities using a relational, culturally sensitive, and socially-just framework.

Frank Wells, LCSW, is a teaching faculty member at the Ackerman Institute. A graduate of New York University School of Social Work, Frank has previously worked as a therapist in child welfare and outpatient mental health settings. He is currently working as a family therapist in the substance abuse field at the Freedom Institute in Midtown Manhattan where he runs support groups for spouses as well as parents of family members struggling with substance use in addition to his family and couples work. Through Freedom Institute, Frank has conducted professional trainings regarding the approaches and functions of family therapy within substance abuse treatment. Frank also maintains a private practice in New York City seeing individuals, couples and families.