Family Therapy & Counselling
What Is the Purpose of Family Therapy?
Family therapy can be used to assist with a wide range of behaviours and complex family dynamics. At its core, it exists to help family members resolve conflict and improve their communication and functionality. Family members can learn how to express their thoughts, feelings, and needs more effectively, resulting in less hurt and damage.
The duration of therapy depends on the issues you are dealing with. A therapeutic plan is established to assess your family’s needs, deliver practical skills and strategies, and mediate the resolution of issues in a safe and caring environment. Family counselling may involve just the parents, or it may involve a young person and their parents working through challenges together.
When Is Family Therapy Necessary?
The reason a family decides to begin counselling is highly individualised. Family counselling can be used proactively or reactively, depending on what circumstances you are facing. Some of the common issues we can help you with include:
- Interpersonal conflict
- Communication skills
- Parenting skills
- Understanding a young person
- Separation & divorce
- Blended families
- Controlling & abusive behaviours
- Establishing boundaries
- Drug & alcohol abuse
- Sibling conflict
- Anger management
- Grief & loss
- Trauma
How Should We Prepare for Family Therapy?
To get the most out of your session, consider taking some time to prepare. You might want to think about or write down notes on what you want to discuss. Coming prepared with talking points can help your family therapist explore the issues in depth. Finally, try to come with an open mind and a willingness to listen to what is happening for your family members.
Aims of Family Therapy
To gain insight and change through engaging in family therapy, the goals are to be:
- Cohesive: Working on and creating a partnership within your family unit.
- Respectful: Acknowledging the uniqueness of your family dynamic, including its beliefs, culture, and relationships.
- Inclusive: Recognising each other’s strengths and resources, while being inclusive of each person’s needs.
- Safe: Providing an environment where each family member can speak about what is happening for themselves and be heard in a respectful manner that encourages growth and change.
Types of Family Therapy
There are a number of different types of family therapy, all with a common goal: to assist family members in communicating more effectively and constructively addressing the issues at hand. Common forms of family therapy include:
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): This approach is action-oriented and focuses on teaching family members practical skills to identify and replace unhelpful patterns with more adaptive, healthy responses.
Systemic Family Therapy: This focuses on identifying how an individual’s behavioural patterns, choices, and relationships are all interconnected and impact the interactions within the family unit.
Narrative Family Therapy: This approach helps family members create a healing story around hurtful situations from the past, enabling them to understand and process what has happened.
Structural Family Therapy: This focuses on how individuals within the family interact with each other, assisting members in identifying how these interactions may be causing harm and enabling positive change.
Help Is Available!
If it’s professional, consistent, and caring therapy you seek, and you are interested in learning more about how we can assist your family, please reach out to our team.