Healing Together
It's only natural that we turn to our families for support in times of crisis. They give us loving aid and comfort when we need it most. Sometimes, though, it's the family unit, rather than an individual family member who suffers under a burden of grief, illness, unemployment, or emotional conflict. When that happens, it's time to seek help as a group. Ask your family physician for a referral to a licensed family therapist.
Resolve Family Conflicts
Family therapy can help to mend relationships, improve the way you work together as a family, and teach better coping skills for dealing with tough times. Such therapy is helpful in resolving family conflicts and for teaching family members how to communicate and get along with each other.
Family therapy is a type of psychotherapy that is most often provided by marriage or family therapists and tends to be short term by nature. One session a week for 3-5 months often suffices in getting the family back on an even keel, though more long term treatment may be necessary depending on the individual needs of each family.
Some of the issues which can be addressed in an effective manner by family therapy are marital problems and divorce, eating disorders including bulimia and anorexia, alcohol or drug abuse, depression or bipolar syndrome, chronic illness such as cancer or asthma, loss of a loved one or trauma, work induced stress, parenting issues and skills, financial difficulties, and emotional abuse or violence.
Family therapy can be useful as an adjunct to more individual therapies. For example, if a family member suffers from schizophrenia he will need individual therapy and medication; but his family will have issues that arise as the result of his illness and these issues can be addressed in family therapy sessions, either with or without the family member who is the unfortunate victim of mental illness.
Sometimes abusive parents will be ordered by the court to attend family therapy sessions, often in lieu of jail time. By the same token, a teen in trouble with the law may be ordered into family therapy. Divorced couples are often required to undergo family therapy as part of the divorce process.
Space to Explore Feelings
Family therapy works by gathering the members of a family together and giving them space to explore the feelings of the individuals and how these affect their interpersonal relationships. Role playing is often employed and is an effective tool for spotting unhealthy patterns of behavior occurring within the family circle.