Family therapy is a type of therapy that can help family members improve communication and resolve conflicts.

You can involve all family members or just those who are willing to participate. Family therapy sessions can teach you skills to deepen family connections and get through stressful times, even after you're done seeing a therapist.

 

Why is it done?

Family therapy can help improve troubled relationships with your partner, your children, and other family members. You can focus on specific topics, such as marital or financial problems, conflict between parents and children, or the impact of substance abuse or mental illness on the entire family.

Family therapy can be helpful in any family context that causes stress, pain, anger, or conflict. It can help you and your family members understand each other better and learn how to deal with challenges or situations to bring you closer together.

 

What can you expect?

Family therapy usually brings several family members together for therapy sessions. However, a family member can also visit an individual family therapist.

Sessions usually last between 50 minutes and 90 minutes. The frequency and number of sessions you will need will depend on your family's particular situation and the therapist's recommendation.

During family therapy, you will be able to:

• Analyze your family's ability to solve problems and express both thoughts and emotions productively;
• Explore family roles, rules and behavior patterns to identify issues that contribute to conflict and ways to resolve them;
• Identify your family's strengths, such as caring for each other, and weaknesses, such as difficulty trusting each other;

Example: Depression

Let's say you have an adult child who suffers from depression. Your family doesn't understand his depression or how to best support him. Although you are worried about your child's health, conversations with your child or other family members end in arguments and you feel frustrated and angry. Communication decreases, decisions are not made, family members avoid each other, and the gap widens.

In this situation, family therapy can help you do the following:

• Identify your specific difficulties and how your family manages them;
• Learn new ways to interact and overcome unhealthy relationship patterns;
• Establish individual or family goals and ways to work to achieve them;

 

Result

Family therapy does not automatically resolve family conflicts or make an unpleasant situation disappear. However, it can help you and your family members understand each other better and give you information to deal with difficult situations more effectively. It can also help the family gain a sense of unity.