We all start life with a family. That family can include blood relatives, adopted parents, foster family, and a close-knit neighbourhood. The family that we acquire and live with has a great impact on our mental health and other aspects of life. Because we are in close connection with these people, they affect our habits, vocabulary, customs, and rituals. We learn to interact with people starting from the family we live with.

Where we enjoy learning with each other, nearly all families deal with some issues as well. There are some dysfunctions in all the families and if not treated at the right time, these distressing things can have a great impact on the future of each individual of the family. This is what family therapy is for. Family therapy offers families to develop a mentally and functionally healthy life.

How to find a Family Therapist

If you are looking to find the perfect Family Therapist it is crucial to make sure that they have the appropriate qualifications, knowledge and experience. At Expat Therapy 4U we only accept therapists who have full professional proficiency in English and are highly experienced in working with people from culturally diverse backgrounds. The clinicians we approve share our values and commitment to provide high quality therapy to the expatriate community in the private sector across Europe and online worldwide. We strongly believe that therapy changes lives, and being accredited ensures all our therapists are qualified to a high standard. You can find a Family Therapist who is insured to practice and accredited with a recognised membership body online here.

What is Family Therapy?

Family therapy is a type of psychotherapy that aims to reduce the conflicts and distress by improving the interaction among the family members. Often in family therapy, it is recommended to have all the family members in one place, but it is not always possible. Family therapy is different from the individual therapy not because of the number of clients involved but due to its perspective and framework.

This counselling focuses on viewing issues as systems that need adjustment. It doesn’t see the problems as conflicts residing inside a person, instead, it is all about interactions and relationships. Every family goes through rough, it can cause stress, anger, or grief in them. Family therapy is there to let those issues solved separately rather than letting them interfere with their family life.

How can Family Therapy help?

Since we all live together, the problems that happen in a family can affect every member of the family. You and your closed ones might be having issues at work, schools, or in day-to-day social interactions. These issues are normal as long as they don’t disturb your family life. Once you start seeing that these problems are interfering with your family interactions, it is time to see a family therapist. A good therapist will help you manage your ways towards these conflicts, challenges, and struggles.

Family therapy can help you with the following issues:

• Substance abuse or addiction.
• Problems in school.
• Difficulties among siblings.
• Children’s behaviour issues.
• Caring for a family member with special needs.
• Issues with extended family members.
• Infidelity.
• Divorce or separation.
• Problems in school.
• Conflicts among family members.
• Death of a family member.
• A family member’s mental illness.
• Planning shared custody of children.
• Relocation that has affected all the family members.
• Any trauma or incident that affected everyone.
• Adjustment of a new member in the family.
• Parents conflicts.
• Domestic violence.

What are some common types of Family Therapy?

All over the world, family therapists are specially trained for this sort of therapy. Once they understand your situation, they can opt for one of the following family therapies regarding your issues:

Bowenian Family Therapy

When you don’t want to bring the whole family in the therapy room, this therapy is used. Two concepts are widely used in this therapy; triangulation and differentiation. Triangulation means naturally diverting anxiety and conflict by involving a third party. Differentiation involves learning to become more flexible and less emotionally reactive.

Systemic Family Therapy

This therapy focuses on the depth of the meaning of the behaviours being shown by the family members. It confronts the family members taking a distant and neutral approach. This therapy is all about making them understand that why the issues are happening among them.

Structural Family Therapy

This therapy focuses on reordering the family system according to the distribution of roles and power among the chain. The issues of the hierarchy are addressed and it is made sure that the parents are in control of the power. This therapy strengthens the role of adults in the family.

Strategic Family Therapy

This is a brief family therapy, best suited for families who want short-term treatments. The therapist will prescribe the homework to the family member which will improve their behaviours and interactions with each other. Communication systems are assessed and common techniques are used. It focuses on reframing the family issues from negative to the positive ones.

What are the benefits of Family Therapy?

The holistic approach towards resolving conflicts in a family has proven to be very effective in several cases. Family therapy allows the family members to address their issues under the guidance of a mental health professional in a controlled and safe environment.

Following are the benefits of family therapy:

• A better understanding of the family patterns and dynamics under the boundaries.
• Improved problem-solving skills among the family members.
• Deeper empathy towards each other.
• Enhanced and better communication that makes the interaction better.
• Better anger management skills thus leading to reduced conflicts.

More specifically, family therapy helps families through:

• Instilling trust and empathy among the family members.
• Reducing the source of stress and tension in the family environment.
• Bringing together the family members after a crisis or trauma.
• Helping the family members developing habits of forgiving each other.
• Creating honesty among the family members.
• Conflict resolution among them.
• Bringing back the family members who had left or are isolated.

Family therapy is all about enhancing the skills of each individual that adds up to making a fulfilled family, including better communication, lesser conflicts, empathy, problem-solving abilities, and much more. This is all meant to provide a fully functioning family that knows how to deal with crises and conflicts if there are any.

Find a Family Therapist through the Expat Therapy 4U platform

The number of sessions or meetings required in family therapy depends on the situation and the type of crisis, but on average, there are 5-20 sessions involved. The therapist is a well-trained mental health professional whose aim is to provide the family members the necessary skills that can do the healing of the distressing conflicts and behaviours. Good family therapy will involve the family members in the exercise where they practise good communication skills with each other to make home environment all better.

Further Readings on Family Therapy

https://theinternationalpsychologyclinic.com/services/family-therapy-in-london/

https://theinternationalpsychologyclinic.com/services/systemic-family-therapy-in-london/

https://theinternationalpsychologyclinic.com/the-10-most-common-family-problems-and-how-to-deal-with-them/

https://theinternationalpsychologyclinic.com/the-10-most-common-parenting-issues-and-how-to-deal-with-them/