Family Therapy
In family therapy, (a) therapist(s) may work with some family members or the whole family. Family therapy promotes understanding and collaboration among family members. It provides a different angle and viewpoint from which to look at presenting problems, such as child and adolescent behavioral problems, depression, substance abuse, or interpersonal conflict. These presenting problems could be a result of family stressful events including financial hardship, separation, divorce, the death of a loved one, or step-family life.
As a professional marriage and family therapist, I help family members explore their views, family cultures, relationships and interaction patterns amongst family members. Family therapy may be a part of an individual treatment plan. Sometimes I use play therapy, drama therapy, or art therapy to discover underlying connections between presenting problems and a family system. Family sessions usually last from 60 minutes to an hour-and-a-half.
“The overall goal [of counseling] is to help family members become ‘systems experts’ who could know [their] family system so well that the family could readjust itself without the help of an expert.
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