FAMILY SUPPORT

Family Support

Systemic Family Therapy is as it sounds, therapy which involves the whole, or part of the family. It’s an approach which uses the idea that the problem often lies within the family as a whole and not just within a single person. Family therapy is counselling that usually involves at least more than one member of a family and may involve all members. A Family Therapist however will also work with individuals alone, because all individuals come from a family of origin experiences in any event. This means that the Family Therapist brings this wider perspective to the counselling process. Similarly, Couples counselling can also therefore be included under this model. 

Systemic Family Therapy is a collaborative process in that the Family Therapist will seek to engage the family members in a joint exploration of the presenting problems from each of their view points, focusing on the beliefs and the interactions which appear to maintain the difficulty and/or which prevent its resolution. The therapist will explore what views the family members have about solutions and if these are similar or different? The aim is to help everyone to better understand their interconnectedness and bring people to a position where choices are introduced, conflicts are discussed and transcended and new patterns of understanding are generated.

Who attends family therapy sessions? All or any number is the short answer.  

A Family Therapist will also be trained to work with Couples in therapy, when the presenting problems emerge within that relationship alone.  

When the presenting problems are child focused, the children will be invited to attend but in certain instances, it may be enough for the parents alone to attend, so that they can work on how best to respond to situations in a united way. Where adolescents are involved its usually best to include them from the start.

It is also common for individuals to attend sessions alone.  Agreeing who will attend is part of the explorative process between therapist and client(s)  

IT’S ABOUT UNCOVERING WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON “UNDER THE SURFACE”  – THE “ REAL” REASONS BEHIND WHAT IS GOING ON. AND THEN PEOPLE WILL BE ABLE TO COME TO BETTER SOLUTIONS AND A BETTER WAY OF LIFE .

A series of family therapy sessions may involve exploration on presenting problems such as , for example: couples conflict/ depression/ domestic abuse and its effects / alliances or splits in the parental sub-system and its effects on children/ sibling rivalry /alcohol abuse/ father role / mother role/ effects of being in care/ bereavement / effects of mental ill-health in a parent /marital unfaithfulness /child development / adult children leaving home .