This cogent and practical manual by David J. Miklowitz and Michael J. Goldstein presents a complete 9-month outpatient program designed to help patients and families understand, accept, and manage the effects of bipolar disorder. The book builds upon both the late Dr. Goldstein's pioneering work with the families of schizophrenia patients and Dr. Miklowitz's extension of this work to bipolar disorder.

Aimed to improve family functioning, facilitate patient willingness to follow a medication regimen, and reduce the risk and severity of relapse, this unique psychoeducational treatment approach maximizes limited time and resources and can be readily incorporated in a range of clinical settings.

This guide is an invaluable tool for therapists from any background and contains much information of relevance to patients and family members as well. FFT also has important implications for other serious psychiatric and medical conditions, making the book a useful resource for researchers. It serves as a supplementary text for advanced undergraduate and graduate-level courses.