Family Counseling
What Can You Expect to Gain From Family Therapy?
Family Counseling is designed to help members of a family and the family unit as a whole with communication, boundaries, and other issues that impact the interpersonal relationships within the family. The benefits of counseling vary by family, and this can include developing healthy boundaries, improving communication, defining someone's role within the family, improving family dynamics and relationships, providing strength and coping tools for family members, addressing dysfunctional interactions, and improving the family's problem-solving abilities.
How Family Counseling Works
Family counseling — or family therapy — allows family members to better understand each other and work through tough emotions in a safe environment. This kind of therapy works to improve connections and communication among family members to build and maintain healthy relationships. A therapist works with families and people who are close to them to help them find better ways of communicating and solving problems together. Family counseling helps family members understand and respond to these problems in more constructive and positive ways.
Common Types of Family Counseling
There are many different types of family counseling. Here are some of the most common approaches to family therapy that Focus Counseling often uses in our practice.
Functional Family Therapy
The general purpose of Functional Family Therapy is to help families become more functional and healthy. It focuses on reducing risks and increasing protective factors. This program targets children who are at risk for delinquent behavior, violent behavior, drug abuse, or other problems. FFT is based on empirical evidence and clinical practice. It includes five specific phases including engagement, motivation, relational assessments, behavioral changes, and generalization. Therapists establish and maintain a strengths-based relationship with the family members, which motivates and encourages continued sessions.
Family Systems Therapy
Family Systems Therapy focuses on group communication to identify and better recognize the dynamics within a family. This kind of therapy helps individual members of the family understand how they behavior impacts the others. The central idea is that the family is an emotional unit, and therefore, anything that happens to one person happens to the whole family.
Supportive Therapy
Supportive Family Therapy is a type of psychotherapy that uses the “therapeutic alliance” – an opportunity to establish a space that feels safe for everyone in the room to open up emotionally while still feeling fully supported. This approach helps to increase self-esteem, reestablish a relation to reality, regulate impulses and negative thinking, and strengthen the ability to cope with life stressors and obstacles.
Narrative Therapy
Narrative Family Therapy focuses more on individual experiences. The stories you create and carry with you throughout your life are emphasized in narrative therapy. The therapist helps you to explore, examine and re-author your life story in a way that leads to increased empowerment and healing. Other members of the family have an opportunity to understand how those experiences have impacted how we relate to, and communicate with, other people. This helps us see events more objectively rather than only from our own perspective.
Psychoeducation
Psychoeducation is usually for families that have members with mental illness. Our counselors will help all family members understand the mental health condition(s) so they can all more easily support each other. Families that have a member with a mental health condition impacts the entire family in different ways, so it is important for everyone to have a full understanding of the symptoms, approaches, and options for the family to function in a more unified alliance.
Signs That Your Family May Benefit from Counseling
Every family is unique, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution for what should prompt you to seek counseling. There are some common occurrences within families that have benefited from counseling. Here are some signs to be aware of:
Silence: Your family may benefit from family counseling if some of all members of the family are not speaking or communicating at all. There is a high chance that this silence may cause problems in the long run.
Avoidance: If family members ignore conflict resolution and pretend that arguments or conflicts haven’t happened, family counseling can help the unit find a way to communicate and resolve those conflicts in a way that works for everyone instead of just pretending it never happened. The latter can lead to resentment and anger.
Violence: If physical or emotional violence is occurring in your family, professional help is necessary to ensure the safety of all members.
Trauma: If your family is unable to deal with their emotions and move on from loss or traumatic experience, our counselors can help the family grief therapy and trauma therapy.
Behavior: When families as a whole or individual family members easily fluctuate behavior, the family unit can benefit from counseling to improve communication and understand each other’s triggers.
Dishonesty: If secrets and lies have become commonplace in your family, it is likely that counseling could help. Our therapists at Focus Counseling can help families establish trust and boundaries to communicate more honestly.
Mental health: You may feel that your family does not know how to cope with the stress or pressure of life and need a safe, non-judgmental place to talk through the issues.
What To Expect in a Family Counseling Session
If you have decided to consult with a therapist, you may address specific concerns during your family therapy sessions, such as a disagreement between children and parents, the impact of a recent death or loss in the family, financial or marital troubles, or the impact of a mental illness or substance misuse on the entire family.
In the beginning, it is normal to be nervous about your first therapy session, especially if you have never had therapy before. You are meeting with a stranger to talk about your thoughts and address difficulties that you are dealing with as a family. Your therapist is aware of this and will strive to build a safe and comfortable relationship with each family member and the unit as a whole.
How To Prepare for Your First Family Counseling Session
Making the decision to begin your family therapy can be both inspiring and nerve-racking. It is natural to have concerns or questions but being prepared and understanding what to expect might alleviate some of these concerns your family may have. Here are four tips for how to prepare for your first family counseling session:
One
Discuss the benefits of counseling as a family: Discuss family counseling as a way for everyone in your family to achieve positive changes. Make certain that any youngsters understand that it is not their fault that the family is attending counseling. Talks about mental health as a family in an open and nonjudgmental manner to clarify why the family is seeking counseling and the hope for positive family changes.
Two
Discuss family expectations in the therapy room: Recognize that each family member's viewpoint is valuable. Everyone is urged to be an active participant in therapy, but it is acceptable to take a break from time to time. It's fine to have opposing points of view. Being truthful and respectful of one another is essential by recognizing that the therapist will not take sides and will instead advocate for the entire family.
Three
Discuss the first session with your family: As a family, make sure everyone understands that the first session will be spent addressing why the family is attending therapy and establishing a relationship with the therapist. Taking the time to think about these things before the first appointment can help to make the session less daunting. Make a list of any questions that anyone may have.
Four
Recognize that your family should come first: A family counselor works with you and your individual needs as well as the overall family goals. They will work to create a safe, positive environment for all members of the family where open communication is possible. It is important to have realistic expectations — especially in the first session. You should feel respected by your therapist and expect them to be open-minded.
Frequently Asked Questions about Family Therapy
Family therapy is a process that takes time and effort from all members of the family. That is why it is essential to understand what family therapy entails and how it may benefit you. These are the questions that families often have about family counseling:
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The simplest way to behave in family therapy is with empathy, respect, and open-mindedness. As a family member, you'll have the opportunity to talk openly about your ideas as well as listen to others.
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It can be challenging to come up with a common family goal, especially when it comes to the kids. It can also be difficult for parents and children alike to adapt their behavior during therapy sessions because they're used to doing things in a certain way.
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The first stage of family counseling is to identify and address the problem. The second step is to discover possible solutions that work for everyone, while the third step is to implement them in your everyday lives. The fourth and final stage of family counseling is to evaluate the results and make necessary changes in order to maintain the newly developed healthy relationships and communication within the family.
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It is important that everyone in the family feels like they are getting something out of therapy, so regular attendance is encouraged. It relies on the family's needs and the issues they are addressing. Some families meet once a week or every other week, while other families feel the need to come more frequently.
Contact Us to Schedule a Family Therapy Session
We want you to be able to focus on getting better and living a happy and healthy life that is free from the burden of mental illness. With our help, we believe you can achieve anything that you set to your mind, so we offer flexible scheduling and remote appointments to make it easy for you to get the help you need. Schedule a consultation today, or contact us on (614) 489-8759 and see how Focus Counseling can change your life for the better.