Family Systems Therapy

Family Therapy primarily is designed to bring about change in a short period of time and. focuses on the communication patterns within a family. Their present way of being and operating within this unit are more important than the past and therefore are explored in detail.

This is a good therapy for dealing with such things as marital distress, communication problems among family members, enhancing the functionality of a family unit, a crisis situation within a family and ensuring the happiness and well being of individual family members are achieved.

For this type of therapy to be effective all family members really need to be involved and present so that the counsellor can get a clear indication of how the family operates as a unit. Sometimes it can be difficult to get all family members involved or even speaking if there is considerable tension among the group. Therefore the therapist needs to be suitably trained in dealing with families and their varying behaviours and conflicts.

The families origins are explored as is their interaction with each other in order for the therapist to gain a better understanding of individual problems and any relationship concerns amongst family members.

The family together as a unit learn to identify and explore interactional patterns and how they operate as a team and individually. By listening to each others situation and story it is hoped that all family member will gain a better insight and understanding into each individual’s problems.

Through Family Therapy clients learn how resolve conflicts in a more amicable way both within the family unit and outside it. It is hoped that what the individual family members learn within therapy as a family they will take these new patterns into their real life situation and apply them on a daily basis and therefore learn to listen and compromise a little better than they have previously. The idea is that family therapy teaches the family to better function as a unit without as much conflict or bitterness as they have previously experienced.

New ways of relating to each other allow the family unit to relieve their distress and to improve communication. The true functionality of the family unit is what is important so that the family learns how to function more cohesively. If the family unit is in constant conflict or turmoil it can affect all the individual members of that family and therefore result in a less harmonious household.

Here, the whole family unit needs to learn how to be more cohesive in order to be more supportive with each other and in order to effect a greater and more positive change. There is a great deal of learning and understanding involved here, but the benefits quite often are seen with all family members rather than just one or two individuals.