What Is Family Therapy? (2024)

FAQs

What is the meaning of family therapy? ›

​Family therapy is a type of psychotherapy that helps family members better understand each other, support one another and work through difficult situations.

In the session, the family therapist may ask questions or listen and observe while the others talk. The therapist does this to learn such things as how family members behave and communicate with each other and what the family's strengths and needs are.

Usual goals of family therapy are improving the communication, solving family problems, understanding and handling special family situations, and creating a better functioning home environment.

There are various approaches and techniques professional mental health providers utilize in family therapy. Four common types of family therapy include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Systemic Family Therapy, Structural Family Therapy, and Narrative Therapy.

For example, family therapy involving all or multiple members of the family can help treat anorexia for one person in the family. Family therapy takes place with a trained, licensed mental health professional, such as a psychologist, therapist or counselor, who has specialized knowledge in working with families.

Goodings Grove Psychology Associates in Homer Glen offers a comprehensive approach to family therapy, guiding families through five distinct stages: Engagement, Assessment, Restructuring, Resolution, and Integration—guiding families through healing and growth.

In family-based treatment, parents take the lead in helping kids recover. A mental health clinician guides parents in showing their child empathy while also enforcing strict rules about eating. Parents choose, prepare and serve all of the child's foods. They require the child to eat and offer lots of support.

Family systems therapists believe that the best way to improve the individual is to understand and help the entire system as much as possible. If this is not possible, then helping the individual learn why they do what they do in terms of family roles helps them make necessary adjustments to be healthy.

Almost all families enter into therapy because something unpleasant is going on—the illness of a child, addictions, behavioral problems, or relational problems. These stressors take a toll on everyone. Family therapy is a means to help cope with these stressors, which is different than making them go away.

Helping families improve communication skills is a primary goal of family therapy. Communication is a key part of family relationships. When it breaks down, you and your loved ones might find yourselves arguing more over misunderstandings. You might pull away from each other instead of opening up.

What are the key points of family therapy? ›

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

This family therapy can help family members develop healthier communication skills, better problem-solving strategies, and more effective coping mechanisms.

The aim of family therapy is to find ways for family members to help each other. In family therapy, a therapist works with families and those in close relationships who experience problems. The therapist explores their views and relationships to understand the problems they are having.

Structural family therapy is a type of therapy that focuses on the interactions between family members. Looking at the family as a system, structural family therapists work to improve communication between members of the family and encourage adjustments in the rules that govern how the family functions (its structure).

Family systems therapy is a form of psychotherapy in the family therapy field that approaches problem-solving through the lens of relationships, dynamics, and patterns that exist within family units. This type of therapy is often called the Bowen family systems theory of human behavior.

Family members may work both individually and as a unit in therapy to uncover these patterns and improve relationships throughout the family. Utilizing a foundation of family systems theory in therapy can greatly assist therapists in teaching individuals how to understand some of their relational patterns.

Express to your child therapy is something that is designed to help you exist together as a family and to help them live both happily and healthily. Explain what therapy is–once you have shared your concerns with your child let them know you have found someone who you think can help.

Each family member works together with the others to better understand their group dynamic and how their individual actions affect each other and the family unit as a whole. One of the most important premises of family systems therapy is that what happens to one member of a family happens to everyone in the family.