Family Therapy
Family, or Systemic Psychotherapy, is relationship therapy ranging from working with couples through to larger family groups.
The goal of family therapy is to assist, support and enable people who are in a close relationship together to help and assist each other through conflict. This is done by helping the individual members of the family, or system, understand their impact on the group and for each member of the family group to feel able to express their thoughts and emotions and for their perspective to be heard.
Family therapy can often be very helpful in managing complex family relationships with children, through to facilitating a dialogue with adult members of the same family.
Family therapy is a highly skilled approach whereby the clinician is working with the family system to resolve conflict, deadlocks and help each member of the group to find a healthier was of expressing their feelings, rather than through acting out.
Systemic family therapy is a particularly effective and useful approach with modern families where parents are often juggling busy careers, integrating children from previous relationships, or simply feeling unable to resolve conflicts.
How can Family Therapy Benefit Us?
Family therapy takes the position that each and every member of the family or group contributes to the overall system. The therapist therefore works with the whole system and considers how each member of the group may be bringing past relational patterns into the group, how unconscious beliefs may be limiting change and what certain behaviours expressed by individuals may be meaning – the latter can be particularly relevant for understanding teenage behaviour. Ultimately, whether we are a child, teenager or adult, all of our behaviour is a communication.
What Issues Can You Help With?
Some of the common areas families seek support with include:
– Parenting issues
– Divorce
– Blended families
– Estranged family members
– Ongoing Conflict
– Communication problems
– Managing strong emotions
– Lack of emotional closeness or trust
For a more in-depth understanding of Systemic Therapy, please click here and read our page on this type of therapy.
We have practices in Lewes and Hove and have clients from right across Sussex as well as London and further afield. To find out about the help Brighton & Hove Psychotherapy can offer get in touch with us today.
