Family therapy is an evidence-based treatment that is grounded in theory and skill-based dialogue focussing on the improvement of relationships within a family unit.

A family unit is a group of people who care about each other - and can consist of many different combinations of loved ones such as parents/guardians and their children, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends, kinship caregivers etc.

In a nutshell, the goal of family therapy is to work together to heal any mental, emotional or psychological problems tearing your family apart or making members feel less attached to each other.

Therapy can help in situations such as:

Adjusting to a new life change (like moving or unemployment);

Changes and challenges that come with ageing;

Death and grief;

Relationship conflicts, such as parent-child conflict or sibling conflict

Strained relationships between family members;

Stress;

Anger;

Coping with acute or chronic illness of a family member;

Psychoeducation of the family unit, to support a neurodivergent member.

Therapists use several different approaches to family therapy and the choice of therapy type depends on your family’s particular needs and circumstances. Therapists at Spirit are what is termed ‘integrative’, combining elements from different therapeutic approaches to best meet the needs of your family.

In family sessions, the therapist will ask each family member about their concerns, challenges and hopes for the family therapy. The therapist will encourage and support family members to talk and listen to each other, as well as help to clarify everyone’s words and feelings so everyone understands each other. Helping family members understand the impact of their words and behaviours and to explore how people in the unit can work together to make positive changes is the therapist’s role in the family’s healing. The therapist may also suggest strategies for changing problematic behaviours and patterns. The therapist may also conduct individual sessions with family members as needed to support sessions when the family is seen together. This provides individual members with an opportunity to share information or perspectives that they may not be comfortable sharing within the group sessions.

Family therapy isn’t for every family. If one or more members are reluctant to participate during the sessions, it can increase family conflict. Depending on the situation, you or your family members might feel slightly more upset during therapy. Your therapist can help you work through these feelings.

This depends on several factors, including: your family’s specific reasons for participating in therapy, what the family’s goals are and if all family members are actively trying to work on the challenges your family is facing. Family therapy can be short-term (about 12 sessions) when dealing with immediate issues and long-term (months). Together, your family and therapist will determine the goals of treatment and arrangements for how often and how long you’ll meet.

Currently, Family Therapy with Spirit is offered virtually with our remote associate, Sukanya Mukherjee.