FAMILY THERAPY
Family is important to our mental health. A family may be composed of blood relatives, adopted parents, a close-knit neighborhood, or a foster family. No matter how it was formed, family is important to who we are, how we function, and certainly our mental health.
The family we are born with influences every aspect of our lives, from our first moments to our last. Our acquired family impacts our lives now. No matter what, our family affects who we are and who we become, for better and/or for worse. Problems do not exist in a vacuum; they exist, and will likely need to be addressed, within the context of the family.
We learn our vocabulary, our habits, our customs and rituals, and how to view and observe the world around us from our family. We also learn how to love and how to interact with others from these first important relationships all of the way to our final relationships. Nearly all families deal with some sort of dysfunction at one time or another.
While it is certainly unlucky to be born into a dysfunctional family, it’s not an unchangeable situation. If we are born into a healthy family with healthy relationships, we are likely to learn how to maintain healthy relationships. If we are born into a dysfunctional family that struggles to connect, we may also struggle to connect with others. Regardless of origin, most families retain or regain a sense of wholeness and happiness.
Family therapy offers families a way to heal. Family therapy is a form of treatment that is designed to address specific issues affecting the health and functioning of a family. It can be used to help a family through a difficult period, a major transition, or mental or behavioral health problems in family members.
Family therapy can employ techniques and exercises from cognitive therapy, behavior therapy, interpersonal therapy, or other types of individual therapy. Like with other types of treatment, the techniques employed will depend on the specific problem(s) the client or clients present. Behavioral or emotional problems are common reasons to visit a family therapist.
A family struggling with situations that bring added stress, such as the death of a family member, addiction, or dire financial straits, may benefit from family therapy to help them through their struggles. Families emerge on the other side as a stronger and more cohesive unit. For families impacted by more chronic mental or behavioral problems, such as a father dealing with schizophrenia, a mother fighting depression, or a child who has been abused, individual psychotherapy is likely the better choice for the most impacted individual.
This type of therapy is appropriate for families with problems such as these because a family therapist has a different perspective on treatment than an individual therapist. While the individual therapist works with one client on solving or curing a problem, the family therapist views problems in the context of the “system” of the family. To solve a problem in a system, you need to consider all parts of the system.
At Hope Development Practice, we often take combination strategy of both individual and family therapy. this approach supports not just the individual, but all members of the family unit. By rallying together to face our struggles, we can use our combined resilience and skillsets to partner in addressing major life issues. Supporting individuals and families to address struggles like depression, schizophrenia, and the like has shown to have the most effective and lasting impact on reducing distress as well as improving the health and lives of our clients.