The increasing demand for couple and family therapists (CFT) in integrated health care settings requires CFTs to learn to effectively serve low-income families. Resilience literature suggests that building families’ resilience and social support directly impacts a family’s chances for socioeconomic mobility. Multi-family group therapy (MFGT) offers an effective vehicle for increasing resilience and social support. This dissertation examines the link between family resilience and poverty and presents an ecological, solution-focused, family resilience lens applied through a pilot MFGT program, Bouncing Forward Family (BFF) Groups, for low-income families. This dissertation includes two publishable papers, and the first focuses on the BFF groups inclusive of key principles, their application and recommendations for maximizing the role of CFTs in their work with low-income families. This dissertation also tests the BFF program’s ability to benefit low-income families when in public housing assistance programs in San Bernardino, CA. In the second publishable paper, using a treatment-treatment as usual, within subjects design, we examined the benefits of using a pilot MFGT to help low-income families achieve socioeconomic goals. Results confirmed that families within the MFGT completed their socioeconomic goal significantly more than the treatment as usual group. These families also showed positive improvements in self-esteem and family cohesion. The results of this study are promising and suggest that the inclusion of MFGT may be an effective addition to comprehensive programs geared towards increasing families’ socioeconomic mobility. This study highlights the innovative benefits of Multi-family Group Therapy (MFGT) with low-income families.
","abstract_html":"<p>The increasing demand for couple and family therapists (CFT) in integrated health care settings requires CFTs to learn to effectively serve low-income families. Resilience literature suggests that building families’ resilience and social support directly impacts a family’s chances for socioeconomic mobility. Multi-family group therapy (MFGT) offers an effective vehicle for increasing resilience and social support. This dissertation examines the link between family resilience and poverty and presents an ecological, solution-focused, family resilience lens applied through a pilot MFGT program, Bouncing Forward Family (BFF) Groups, for low-income families. This dissertation includes two publishable papers, and the first focuses on the BFF groups inclusive of key principles, their application and recommendations for maximizing the role of CFTs in their work with low-income families. This dissertation also tests the BFF program’s ability to benefit low-income families when in public housing assistance programs in San Bernardino, CA. In the second publishable paper, using a treatment-treatment as usual, within subjects design, we examined the benefits of using a pilot MFGT to help low-income families achieve socioeconomic goals. Results confirmed that families within the MFGT completed their socioeconomic goal significantly more than the treatment as usual group. These families also showed positive improvements in self-esteem and family cohesion. The results of this study are promising and suggest that the inclusion of MFGT may be an effective addition to comprehensive programs geared towards increasing families’ socioeconomic mobility. This study highlights the innovative benefits of Multi-family Group Therapy (MFGT) with low-income families.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Estrella, Julie Virginia"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Distelberg, Brian","Huenergardt, Douglas","Knudson-Martin, Carmen","Moline, Mary"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-11-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-11-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:52:38Z","subjects":["Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling","Mental and Social Health","Bouncing Forward Family Groups; Family Therapy; Psychotherapy; Group; Community Health Services","Integrated health care settings; Multi-family group therapy; Family resilience; Socioeconomic mobility"],"languages":["English"],"rights":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/335","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Distelberg, Brian","Huenergardt, Douglas","Knudson-Martin, Carmen","Moline, Mary"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Estrella, Julie Virginia"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling","Mental and Social Health","Bouncing Forward Family Groups; Family Therapy; Psychotherapy; Group; Community Health Services","Integrated health care settings; Multi-family group therapy; Family resilience; Socioeconomic mobility"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/335"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The increasing demand for couple and family therapists (CFT) in integrated health care settings requires CFTs to learn to effectively serve low-income families. Resilience literature suggests that building families’ resilience and social support directly impacts a family’s chances for socioeconomic mobility. Multi-family group therapy (MFGT) offers an effective vehicle for increasing resilience and social support. This dissertation examines the link between family resilience and poverty and presents an ecological, solution-focused, family resilience lens applied through a pilot MFGT program, Bouncing Forward Family (BFF) Groups, for low-income families. This dissertation includes two publishable papers, and the first focuses on the BFF groups inclusive of key principles, their application and recommendations for maximizing the role of CFTs in their work with low-income families. This dissertation also tests the BFF program’s ability to benefit low-income families when in public housing assistance programs in San Bernardino, CA. In the second publishable paper, using a treatment-treatment as usual, within subjects design, we examined the benefits of using a pilot MFGT to help low-income families achieve socioeconomic goals. Results confirmed that families within the MFGT completed their socioeconomic goal significantly more than the treatment as usual group. These families also showed positive improvements in self-esteem and family cohesion. The results of this study are promising and suggest that the inclusion of MFGT may be an effective addition to comprehensive programs geared towards increasing families’ socioeconomic mobility. This study highlights the innovative benefits of Multi-family Group Therapy (MFGT) with low-income families.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Becoming an Ally: Multi-family Group Therapy Pilot with Low-income Families"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Distelberg, Brian","Huenergardt, Douglas","Knudson-Martin, Carmen","Moline, Mary"],"dc:creator":["Estrella, Julie Virginia"],"dc:description.abstract":["The increasing demand for couple and family therapists (CFT) in integrated health care settings requires CFTs to learn to effectively serve low-income families. Resilience literature suggests that building families’ resilience and social support directly impacts a family’s chances for socioeconomic mobility. Multi-family group therapy (MFGT) offers an effective vehicle for increasing resilience and social support. This dissertation examines the link between family resilience and poverty and presents an ecological, solution-focused, family resilience lens applied through a pilot MFGT program, Bouncing Forward Family (BFF) Groups, for low-income families. This dissertation includes two publishable papers, and the first focuses on the BFF groups inclusive of key principles, their application and recommendations for maximizing the role of CFTs in their work with low-income families. This dissertation also tests the BFF program’s ability to benefit low-income families when in public housing assistance programs in San Bernardino, CA. In the second publishable paper, using a treatment-treatment as usual, within subjects design, we examined the benefits of using a pilot MFGT to help low-income families achieve socioeconomic goals. Results confirmed that families within the MFGT completed their socioeconomic goal significantly more than the treatment as usual group. These families also showed positive improvements in self-esteem and family cohesion. The results of this study are promising and suggest that the inclusion of MFGT may be an effective addition to comprehensive programs geared towards increasing families’ socioeconomic mobility. This study highlights the innovative benefits of Multi-family Group Therapy (MFGT) with low-income families.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/335"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:rights":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."],"dc:subject":["Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling","Mental and Social Health","Bouncing Forward Family Groups; Family Therapy; Psychotherapy; Group; Community Health Services","Integrated health care settings; Multi-family group therapy; Family resilience; Socioeconomic mobility"],"dc:title":["Becoming an Ally: Multi-family Group Therapy Pilot with Low-income Families"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:52:38Z"}