Family therapy

Family therapy is a form of talk therapy that focuses on the improvement of relationships among family members. It can also help treat specific mental health or behavioral conditions, such as substance use disorder or oppositional defiant disorder. Family therapy can involve any combination of family members.

What is family therapy?

Family therapy is a form of group psychotherapy (talk therapy) that focuses on the improvement of interfamilial relationships and behaviors.

A family unit is a group of people who care about each other. In family therapy, a group can consist of many different combinations of loved ones, such as parents/guardians and their children, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends, kinship caregivers, etc.

Therapy can help with situations such as:

• Adjusting to a new life change (like moving)
• Changes and challenges that come with aging, age crises
• Grief
• Relationship conflicts, such as parent-child conflict or sibling conflict

Mental health professionals also use family therapy to help treat certain mental health or behavioral conditions for one person within the family unit. For example, family therapy involving all or multiple members of the family can help treat eating disorde for one person in the family.

What are the types of family therapy?

The choice of therapy type depends on your family’s particular needs and circumstances. During therapy I may combine elements from different therapeutic approaches to best meet your needs.

Some forms of family therapy include:

• Marriage counseling/couples therapy: This therapy involves you and your spouse or romantic partner. I can help couples determine their problems and work on solutions. Issues may be related to communication, raising children, finances, understanding your or your partner’s mental health condition and more.
• Strategic family therapy: This is a short-term family therapy that focuses on making positive structural and behavioral changes in the family environment. It’s based on the foundation that the family plays the most important role in the life and development of children. I may use this therapy form for families with children who have behavioral issues.
• Structural family therapy: This type of therapy looks at the inner relationships, boundaries and hierarchies within a family unit. It focuses on direct interactions among your family members as the primary way to bring about positive change. The main foundation of structural family therapy is that when guided by a therapist, families will discover their own alternatives to their problematic patterns of relating to one another.
• Systemic family therapy: The foundation of systemic family therapy is considering the family’s issues in the different contexts in which they live. For example, as a therapist I will consider how one family member functions as a partner in a romantic relationship, as a parent and as a child to their parents. Context also includes cultural, religious and political views, and socio-economic status. This approach regards context as having the most significance for your psychological development and emotional well-being.

For families who are participating in therapy due to a mental health condition, psychoeducation is a crucial part of the therapy. Psychoeducation is the way that mental health professionals teach people and their families about mental health conditions. It involves basic information about the condition, causes, treatment and prognosis (outlook).

What issues can family therapy help fix?

Families attend therapy for several different reasons. Problems that family therapy can help fix include (but aren’t limited to):

• Strained relationships between family members.
• Stress.
• Anger.
• Communication issues.
• Trauma (physical or emotional).
• Coping with acute or chronic illness of a family member, such as multiple sclerosis, cancer, stroke, chronic pain or an autoimmune disease.
• The death of a loved one and grief.
• Divorce or romantic relationship issues.
• Coping with sudden changes, such as unemployment, moving or incarceration.

Family therapy can be beneficial if a family member has any of the following mental health conditions:

• Anxiety disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
• Eating disorders, such as anorexia.
• Mood disorders, such as bipolar disorder and depression.
• Personality disorders, such as borderline personality disorder.
• Schizophrenia.
• Substance use disorder.

How does family therapy work?

Family therapy is an evidence-based treatment that’s grounded in theory and skill-based dialogue (conversations). It provides a supportive, nonjudgmental and safe environment that allows your family to talk openly with me as a mental health professional. I am objective and specially trained to help your family with the issues you’re having.

With my guidance, you work on improving the interactions and communication among your family members. You work to incorporate healthy behaviors to improve your family’s functioning and well-being. Family therapy can also help you understand and help treat a family member’s mental health or behavioral condition.

As a therapist I may:

• Ask each family member about their concerns and challenges and hopes for family therapy.
• Encourage everyone to talk and listen to each other.
• Clarify everyone’s words and feelings so everyone understands each other.
• Help your family members understand the impact of their words and behaviors.
• Help your family explore how you can work together to make positive changes.
• Suggest strategies for changing problematic behaviors and patterns.

As conversation is the main part of family therapy, it’s essential for all family members who are participating to be actively involved in the therapy. The trust and relationship between you and me are essential to working together effectively and benefiting from the therapy.

The frequency and amount of sessions vary from family to family depending on their unique circumstances. Therapy may involve just a few sessions or they could continue for several months or more. I may suggest meeting with family members individually, as well as in a group.

How long does family therapy take to work?

How long you and your family will need therapy depends on several factors, including:

• Your family’s specific reason for participating in therapy
• What your goals are
• If your family members are actively trying to work on the issues your family’s having

Family therapy can be short term (12 sessions, on average), dealing with immediate issues, or long term (months or years), dealing with mental health conditions and/or complex issues. Together, your family and I as a therapist will determine the goals of treatment and arrangements for how often and how long we’ll meet.

Some families participate in therapy multiple times over the years — whether for the same issue or different issues.

I will be happy to help You solve your family difficulties and build more strong connections between the members of your family.