Family therapy

Overview:

Family therapy is a type of talk therapy. It aims to improve relationships among family members through the treatment of certain mental health conditions and behavioral issues, which include substance abuse, defiance disorder, etc. Family therapy can include people who love and care for each other. It could be parents, guardians, siblings, friends, or caregivers. In some cases, all the family members can come together and collectively help one person in their family with an issue.

The therapy is conducted in the presence of a trained and licensed mental health professional like a psychologist, therapist, or counselor who is trained in working with families. This form of therapy can be a great way to offer support, education, and guidance to the family members to help them co-exist more congenially and work together as a unit.

Types Of Family Therapies:

The types of therapies are classified basis the requirement of the family, situation and circumstances, the duration, methods, and goals.

They include:

• Functional family therapy (FFT): This therapy is used for families who have children with behavioral problems. Therapists evaluate the family's interpersonal relationships and try to find out the reason for the child's problematic behavior. They try to facilitate better communication between the family members and help the child's parents by working on their parenting skills.
• Marriage counseling/couples therapy: This therapy as the name suggests involves working on the relationship of a romantically involved or a married couple. The therapy is carried out by professional marriage and family Therapists (LMFTs) who are trained to aid couples in identifying their issues and working together toward a solution. The issues could be communication, kids, finances related or due to some medical condition.
• Strategic family therapy: This family therapy aims at fostering positive and effective structural and behavioral changes within the family. It works on the basic principle that family plays an essential part in a person's life, and healthy family dynamics promote optimum child development. This therapy is used for families who have kids with behavior problems. 
• Structural family therapy: This type of therapy goes deeper to uncover the intricate balance of the boundaries and hierarchies within the family and gently guides the members to pause, reflect, identify their problematic ways, and think of alternative better ways of interacting with their loved ones.
• Systemic family therapy: This therapy focuses on each member of the family and how they interact with others in the context of the role they play. For e.g., as a mother, wife, daughter, granddaughter, etc. The therapist also investigates the person's views and their role culturally and religiously. This approach considers the context to play a significant role in a person's life and influences their behavior, as well as tries to promote psychosocial development and emotional well-being. 

Psychoeducation is a vital component of any therapy, and it is through this method that mental health professionals make the family aware of their mental health status and how to find a solution. 

Benefits Of Family Therapy:

Family therapy can help in multiple situations:

• While adjusting to a new life situation like relocation or the diagnosis of a medical condition.
• Aging and the challenges it brings.
• Passing away of a loved one.
• Divorce and separation anxiety.
• Strained relationships between family members, such as disruptions in parent-child and sibling relationships.
• Stress and anger issues.
• Communication blocks.
• Trauma, whether it is physical or emotional.
• Coping with unexpected changes, such as unemployment or incarceration.

Family therapy also helps if a family member is suffering from any of the following mental health conditions:

• Anxiety disorders, like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
• Eating disorders, like anorexia.
• Bipolar disorder and depression.
• Personality disorders.
• Schizophrenia.
• Substance use disorder.
• Obesity
• Childhood behavioral conditions like conduct disorder, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), autism spectrum disorder, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

This helps people

• Enjoy better emotional and physical health.
• Have healthier behavior patterns.
• Function better at school and work.

The Procedure:

• The therapist talks to each member and inquires about the problems and challenges they are facing and what they are expecting from the family therapy.
• They encourage each member to open up, talk, share their thoughts and concerns, and also listen to one another.
• They ask questions and clarify everyone's thoughts and perspectives to help family members understand each other better.
• They make the members aware of the impact that their words and actions have on each other.
• The therapists guide the family members to collectively work together toward a positive change by finding solutions.
• Strategies are suggested for changing certain behavioral patterns.
• For any family therapy to work, the active participation of every family member is very important and so is trusting the therapist and their techniques.
• The frequency of the sessions depends on the situation and the requirements of the family. The therapist may interact with individual members as well as the family as a whole unit.

The Risks Of Family Therapy:

Family therapy doesn't work in the following scenarios:

• When even one member of the family refuses to or resists participating correctly and actively during the therapy, the family therapy becomes ineffective as it can increase conflict within the family.
• If the members of the family are not honest with the therapist.
• If the family is not committed to working collectively toward a positive change.
• When the family fails to follow the decided plan and doesn't do their assigned work.

The therapy can evoke certain unpleasant feelings in people and they can get upset during the process. However, the therapist can help them address the negative feelings.

Conclusion: 

While it may be easier to remain inside a comfort zone and keep sweeping troubling and unpleasant issues under the carpet to avoid confrontations and conflicts, the unresolved issues can raise their ugly head unexpectedly and in an amplified way in the future. This makes family therapy a very valuable and useful option for addressing the simmering issues within the family for a positive resolution. The therapy not only helps everyone identify and understand the blocks that stand in the way of a healthy and fulfilling life but also helps in treating certain mental health conditions.

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