Exploring into local collectivist Malays culture led the researchers to construct the Family Therapeutic Alliance (FTA) which is an invaluable therapeutic source of authority applicable as the underlying element in multicultural psychotherapy. FTA was used in a longitudinal study of relapse prevention among the Malay collectivist recovering addicts and their family that has produced a positive outcome. Four recovering addicts and their families were invited to form four study groups with an initial goal of establishing FTA, and later on, to maintain their alliances. Eight sessions of Collective Family Therapy using a multicultural approach that adopt the basic element of psychotherapy and critical values of the clients was used as the treatment approach.
The study found that all groups managed to establish therapeutic alliances during the three months of their treatment conducted at one of the government drug treatment centre; three of the groups were going even further to maintain the alliance for another two years after completion of the treatment. Three out of the four recovering addicts manage to stay drug free during treatment as well as two years after the treatment. As collectivist is characteristically familial-self communities, this finding is seen as pertinent to them. Further studies are required to support the findings and it relevancy in other collectivist communities.
