Family therapy is a type of psychotherapy which involves some or all members of a nuclear family, step family, or foster family. At times, that may also include members of the extended family such as: grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. Therapists (some times more than one) conduct multiple sessions to help families work through important issues which are interfering with the functioning of the family and home environment.
Therapists look to helping family members improve: communication, focus on solving family problems, address and handle specific situations (for example: death, serious physical or mental illness, or child and adolescent issues) and create a healthier home environment. Therapists are trained to look at the family unit and identify areas within the dynamics which the family may not realize are contributing to the problems and struggles they are facing.
Our clinicians do not look for one person in the family as being the problem but that the problems in any family are normally influenced by far more than just one dimension of dynamics and therapist look to find those layers in order to assist families in healing. For instance, if one family member has a serious physical or mental illness, family therapy can be helpful in educating families about the illness and work with the family to address working through problems associated with care of the family member. With children and adolescents, family therapy is often used when a child or adolescent has anxiety, and/or a mood disorder with impairs the social functioning of the family. Another part of family therapy may also include a step family who is newly formed or begins experiencing difficulties adjusting to a new family life; or families with members from a mixture of racial, cultural, and/or religious backgrounds, as well as, families made up of same-sex couples who are raising children.
The key to family therapy is to assist families in identifying and improving areas of concern in the counseling setting. Our therapists employ a variety of techniques and/or approaches in working with families from talk therapy to more intricate types of techniques which are designed to help improve the families’ perspective on their dynamics.
