Mike,

Thanks for your input.  Unfortunately, due to overload at the residential
treatment center, twice monthly is apparently the best the counselor can do.
 In light of that, along with the boy's need for structure and the fact that
he'll probably be living with the mother upon his release, including her may
be a necessary measure for the counselor to gain her cooperation as an ally,
at least for the time being (although I do not actually know the counselor's
rationale for including her).  She appears overwhelmed at the prospect of his
residing with her, and has her own conflicts about containment of impulses.
 This "family" approach may be a useful prelude to any subsequent work that I
may do with him.  Therefore, I don't necessarily view this as a "dilution."

Whether the mother's and boy's conflicts will eventually permit the boy to be
in a conventional, individual psychotherapy remains to be seen and evaluated.
 Ordinarily, with a boy this age (he's almost 18), I would not even meet with
the parents, at least not in any regular manner during the "therapy phase" of
the work, but there are exceptions in cases when the parents cannot tolerate
that kind of "separation" from their child's treatment, and I do not assume
from the boy's chronological age alone that he could tolerate an individual
therapy without some involvement on the part of his parents.  There are many
factors to consider here.  I'll see how it unfolds...

David Mittelman