Exploring difficult emotions in a safe environment

By Vassos Silivistris

Systemic Family therapy, also known as Family Therapy, is a type of psychological counselling (psychotherapy) that helps family members improve communication and resolve conflicts. Family therapy is usually provided by a qualified psychologist, psychotherapist or counsellor.

It enables family members, couples and others who care about each other to express and explore difficult thoughts and emotions safely, understand each other’s experiences and views, appreciate each other’s needs, build on strengths and make useful changes in their relationships and their lives.

Individuals can find Family Therapy helpful, as an opportunity to reflect on important relationships and find ways forward.

Research shows Family Therapy is useful for children, young people and adults experiencing a very wide range of difficulties and experiences.

Family Therapy aims to:

Be inclusive and considerate of the needs of each member of the family and or other key relationships (systems) in people’s lives.

Recognise and build on peoples’ strengths and relational resources.

Work in partnership ‘with’ families and others, not ‘on’ them.

Sensitive to diverse family forms and relationships, beliefs and cultures.

Enable people to talk, together or individually, often about difficult or distressing issues, in ways that respect their experiences, invite engagement and support recovery.

Resolve a specific issue. Prepare the family for a major life change such as a divorce or remarriage. Address the role that family plays in an individual’s life.

Depending on the unique needs and goals of the family, different combinations of family members may participate in each therapy session.

The family therapist may give family members assignments to begin addressing some of the challenges identified during therapy.

What are the benefits of Family Therapy?

Evaluating issues in family therapy can help an individual understand how their family functions; identify strengths and weaknesses in the family system; set goals and develop strategies to resolve challenges; improve communication skills; make the entire family stronger.

Family therapy is often used in conjunction with other types of mental health treatment, particularly if one or more family members would benefit from specialised treatment for addictions, eating disorders or other illnesses.

Some mental health programmes offer a family therapy component while a loved one is in treatment and also encourage each family member to pursue individual therapy.

What conditions and disorders does Family Therapy treat?

Anyone seeking healthier, closer family relationships can benefit from family therapy. Family therapy is used to treat a wide range of conditions, including:

Marital problems.

Parent-child conflict.

Problems between siblings.

The effects of illness on the family.

Studies show that family therapy is particularly important for adults and adolescents struggling with substance abuse, eating disorders, and other emotional and behavioural issues.

When the whole family grows, each member is better off.

What are the risks?

There are no major risks involved in receiving family therapy, especially if family members seek the therapy with honesty, openness and a willingness to change.

What results can be expected?

The goal of therapy is the identification and resolution of the problem that is causing the family’s unhealthy interactions. Results vary, but in good circumstances, they include greater insight, increased differentiation of individual family members, improved communication within the family, and loosening of previously automatic behaviour patterns.

Dr Vasilios Silivistris (Vasos) is a psychotherapist, counselling practitioner psychotherapycounselling.uk/