It’s all in the Family (Therapy)!

While many people are familiar with individual therapy, the average person knows much less about family therapy. In family therapy, either the whole family or subsections of it attend therapy and work to reach goals set by the family. Sometimes there is an identified individual in the family who has the diagnosed mental health disorder, and other times problems within the family relationships are the presenting issue. While there are different modalities for family therapy, at its core family therapy is based on systems theory, believing that individual psychological issues come from and are maintained by wider family issues. Therefore, changes in the wider family system support changes for the individual. I was trained in Structural Family Therapy, created by Salvadore Minuchin in the 1960s, and I can help your family make changes and reach your goals. Read on to find out more about Structural Family Therapy and what to expect when you come to Family Therapy.

Structural Family Therapy is based on the idea that ineffective and unhealthy structures within families contribute to and maintain psychological problems within the individual. SFT looks at the family as filled with subsystems that define and maintain family roles. For example, there are usually spousal and sibling subsystems in families with children. Unknowingly, families develop rules that govern behavior within and between subsystems. Families can get stuck with rules that don’t meet their current situation and keep the family from adapting to changes in the environment. So basically, SFT seeks to help families become aware of the subsystems and rules within the family, placing the parents at the top of the hierarchy, and helping the family to develop flexibility to adapt to their changing environment.

What does SFT look like when you come to family therapy? First, you can expect that I will get to know all the members of the family. Everyone needs to feel comfortable. While I am doing this, I am also observing family dynamics. Who talks? Who doesn’t? Where do people sit? How are family members interacting? Family members will help me create a family map that shows the existing subsystems, pointing us towards shifts that might help the family function more effectively. Eventually, I will likely call for an enactment, which means having family members discuss the problem in session, sometimes even role-playing to show how a recent conflict has gone. I will help the family to identify patterns in communication and shift patterns to healthier ones. In the language of a previous post, I might help parents work to become more authoritative, setting healthy limits while providing loving connection to children. Once family goals have been achieved, it will be time to say goodbye, and in this step, I will support the family in reviewing what they have learned and providing resources for managing future challenges. Family Therapy can be hard work, and it can improve family relationships and functioning for years to come!