Family therapy
In which cases is systemic family therapy advisable? What is systemic family therapy? What is systemic family therapy based on? When should I seek family therapy?
Family therapy
In which cases is systemic family therapy advisable?
Systemic family therapy is effective and advisable in all the cases, whether it be to treat small problems or difficulties with a diagnosed pathology. All members of the family will benefit from the healing and growth that provides family therapy. Teenagers and children will benefit specially from this approach, because the psychotherapy is done with the help and collaboration of the parents and siblings, which reinforces the effectiveness and rapid processing of the issue.
- Difficulties in child education
- Family conflicts
- Lack of communication or chilling of family relations
- Family relationships and changes in the family lifecycle (births, deaths, retirements, etc)
- Mental health of children and teenagers
- Support to the family members which are going through a process of separation or divorce
- Behavioral disorders in your children, including problems related to attention deficit and hyperactive disorder (ADHD)
- Emotional disorders, such as anxiety, depression, grieving of any member of the family
- Anorexia, bulimia, or any other eating disorders
- Adoption or foster childcare
- Domestic violence
- Alcohol and drug abuse
- Immigration and cultural adaptation processes
What is sytemic family therapy?
Family therapy of a systemic base, which is the one we use, is a form of psychotherapy of great potency to solve all kinds of problems and/or family conflicts.
Family therapy is conducted with all the members of the family present at least in the first session.
On some occasions, the family therapist will call all of the family, others only the patient, or the parents and then the brothers, but in family therapy, the therapist will always bear in mind the relationships which the patient establishes with his family and will work on that. Family therapy is based on a relational focus.
The family is considered the most important resource available to individuals who wish to successfully overcome important problems at a psychological or medical level.
This allows for a relational diagnosis to be carried out since the first session and be able to help the family using the family as a therapeutical resource to solve the same existing problem between the members in one of them. We consider the family a living system which can support, sustain or even heal any of its members, if it is guided and well structured towards health and functionality. That is why it is also recommendable when there is a member of the family with some form of pathology: for example when there are daughters or sons with anorexic or bulimic disorders or when there are symptoms of a major depression or some type of psychotic disorder in any of the children or parents.
Family therapy, thanks to its effectiveness and its speed, allows the problem or the conflict to be resolved in a fewer number of sessions than in individual therapy, but it requires on the other hand, regular assistance and presence, normally every two weeks, of all the members of the family.
Family therapists give the opportunity to the families to develop and maximize their resources, helping them to collaborate towards constructive and creative solutions to often difficult problems. Family therapy has demonstrated to be of enormous benefit in moments of crisis and as prevention of greater problems.
In Consulterapia, we family therapists acknowledge the importance of the family and relational context of the individuals and therefore respect and share their different perspectives, beliefs, visions and narratives, exploring possible paths to advancement and positive change. While we facilitate positive changes in the whole, we also support the individual development of each member.
whata is systemic family therapy base on
The family is a human structure in continuous progress and change. Surely, when the kids are small, the family adapts to the needs of the smallest ones, the relationship of the couple becomes increasingly flexible to accommodate the new affective needs of each new member that arrives. Family conflicts are usually about the treatment given to each child and the coherence of both parents with respect to their education. In this stage of the family life cycle, we can help you find common ground between both members of the couple and the family in which to consolidate the changes and satisfy the needs of each member within the framework of love and respect.
In the stage of the family’s lifecycle when there are teenagers, there is usually a lot of conflict with respect to authority and discipline. We can help you learn strategies and develop effective communication skills with your teenage children and strengthen the internal coherence of your “parental team”.
There is often some level jealousy between brothers, and sometime even FAMILY VIOLENCE to a certain degree. It is important that all the family attends family therapy in order to analyze the factors which have taken you to these dynamics and help you make profound changes in the family structure to restore order and harmony.
When grandparents are old and become dependent upon their children, lots of collaboration and cooperation is necessary between the children and grandchildren in order to be able to satisfy the needs of all the family, without creating disunion, conflicts and/or frustrations among the children. In these cases I can offer sessions of family mediation between the children and the grandchildren to coordinate the physical and emotional care of the grandparents.
Without a doubt, family therapy is very effective in cases in which a family member has passed away, may it be from disease or by accident of some sort, or when the mourning of friend or grandparent need s to be treated.
When should one seek family therapy?
In Consulterapia we recommend that you to attend family therapy as soon as possible, before the situation worsens, as efforts from the family or the partner to solve the issue, usually only worsen and complicates it further, increasing the pain and desperation.
Most of the time, the member of the family who suffers most is not the person who presents the symptoms.
Anyone affected directly or indirectly by any family problem can seek our professional help, benefitting from an effective and lasting solution.