Without the mediating effects of kin, adolescent transition can become a major crisis. Kinship systems remain cohesive when members can reconcile their beliefs about essential aspects of family functioning with demands for adaptation during major life transitions. Reconciliation is lost when members believe that kin can no longer be trusted to insure their well-being. Kinship fragmentation ensues as family members leave the field or are excluded. Isolated nuclear families then rapidly lose the resilience to respond to life transitions without resorting to extreme, maladaptive solutions. The Systemic Crisis Intervention Program (SCIP) model uses the opportunity of a crisis precipitated by an adolescent's life-threatening behavior to alter family myths that have led to network fragmentation. Crisis teams mobilize and meet with kin in 4-hour gatherings to foster reconciliation and kinship system reintergration. It is pointed out, however, that the SCIP model is not a viable treatment alternative for families that have reached such a state of isolation that kin are no longer accessible, even in times of crisis. Other conditions that may minimize SCIP's effectiveness are noted. 65 references