Working
with families
Your family can be your greatest source of support, comfort and love. Families can also be a source of strain and conflict.
Family therapy is a type of psychotherapy. It helps families or individuals within a system understand and improve the way family members interact with each other and resolve conflicts. This psychotherapy can help the family learn how a healthy family structure contributes to healthy family relationships. In addition, families work to encourage individuation of family members, while still maintaining and developing connectedness between family members
In general, anyone who wants to improve troubled relationships can benefit from family therapy. Family therapy can help with such issues as:
- Marital problems
- Divorce
- Eating disorders, such as anorexia, bulimia or compulsive overeating behavior
- Substance abuse
- Depression or bipolar disorder
- Chronic health problems, such as asthma or cancer
- Grief, loss and trauma
- Work stress
- Parenting skills
- Emotional abuse or violence
- Financial problems
Working with a family therapist, you and your family will examine your family's ability to solve problems and express thoughts and emotions. You may explore family roles, rules and behavior patterns in order to spot issues that contribute to conflict. Family therapy may help you identify your family's strengths, such as caring for one another, and weaknesses, such as an inability to confide in one other or the presence of mixed or confusing messages.
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