Successful Family Therapy Re-builds Relationships

Are you about to give up on talking with a family member? Try family therapy before going to extremes. Family therapy focuses on bringing all the members of the family together in order to stop and rework the negative patterns families sometimes encounter. As a therapist, we know it is important to listen carefully to each individual and make impartial suggestions about how to communicate more successfully.

While the family therapy may focus equally on all family members, sometimes it is effective for treating problems with one particular member which are affecting all the other members. For example, it can help if a family member is having trouble with drinking or obesity. Family therapy improves relationships, whether you choose to do family therapy for the reason that one individual is causing difficult dynamics, or whether it is because many individuals are having difficulties in the group. Have you ever felt like it is too late for you and a particular family member to repair a relationship? Perhaps you have stopped talking to one another entirely? Family therapy will help to re-build these relationships.

Family therapists have specific techniques which include finding patterns and looking at "how" not "what". Therapists will help families to focus on the present and not the past and to look for better coping strategies than the family already maintains. For example, if the relationship has gotten so bad that some people are not talking to each other, this is a bad coping strategy. There is no way to repair a relationship if communication gets cut off. Perhaps the family therapist would recommend a new strategy such as using "I" statements. Instead of saying, "You are wrong about this," you can say, "I feel upset when you say this." Framing speech in a way to show how other people's actions affect yours will allow for more empathy in communication.

These are just examples of the techniques family therapists employ to help improve communication. If you or a family member have been feuding, it is not too late to rebuild that relationship. Do not let arguments end relationships. Contact us today!