Family therapy is specifically designed for the family as a unit, to help its members learn how specific issues affect the dynamic and functioning of the family as a whole and how to navigate situations that bring imbalance to the relationship between members of that family. The family becomes our patient, the family as a larger unit.
Family therapy teaches you skills to address conflict with other members of the family. It also serves as a mediation tool when communication between the parties involved has become impossible. This is achieved by exploring underlying concerns that exist within the family and creating and establishing a plan that meets the needs of each and every family member.
Key strategies:
- Use “I” statements
- Focus on the problem, not the person
- Give others the benefit of the doubt.
- Be approachable, friendly and pleasant.
- Practice real time conversations
- Keep the conversation going
- See family interactions as an opportunity for dialogue
- Acknowledge and listen rather than obey
- Focus on being happy rather than being right.
Common concepts:
- Differentiation of self
- Emotional triangle
- Family projection process
- Multigenerational transmission process
- Emotional cutoff
- Sibling position
- Societal emotional process
- Nuclear family emotional process
