Family Therapy
March 18, 2025
Content
- What is family therapy?
- Common myths about family therapy
- When is it helpful?
- How best to prepare for family therapy?
What is family therapy?
In the most common types of therapy, the therapist and the individual work together to understand the difficulty they are experiencing and how to manage it. In Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, for example, the individual implements tools in their daily lives to manage the difficulty.
In family therapy, rather than focusing on the individual, the therapist will look at the system the individual is part of, such as the family. The therapist and the family will work together to understand the narratives and behaviours that each person in the family has and how that can contribute to the family’s difficulties. It is a real chance for the family to reflect more about their dynamics and to gain an understanding of other people’s viewpoints.
Common myths about family therapy
You have to live with the people to qualify for family therapy
For many people, they will have loved ones who play a crucial part in their lives, but these people may not live at home with them. For example, a grandparent, step-sibling or aunt/uncle. This does not mean that these people are not allowed to be part of the family therapy. The people you bring are the family members who make up part of your close support network, regardless of location.
There is only one therapist involved
There may just be one therapist that works with the family, but more commonly in the NHS, there is a lead therapist and at least one more therapist whose role is to observe and provide feedback on their observations. For example, the lead therapist will facilitate the discussions between family members throughout the session and then will invite the other therapist to outline their thoughts on the family’s dynamics or viewpoints. This allows for numerous perspectives on situations.
The therapist's thoughts on the family dynamic are always correct and accurate
A family therapist should always outline that their viewpoints or reflections about your family are just hypotheses. This means they are just a proposed explanation, and that this can be reviewed, changed or even scrapped if needed. It may be that one of your family therapists suggests a reflection or hypothesis about your family that does not feel right. It is a crucial part of the therapy itself that you highlight this to them so the statement can be reviewed.
When is family therapy helpful?
Family therapy is brilliant when a child or person within the family is receiving support for a physical or mental health difficulty. It can help the family gain an understanding of what that person is going through, how to support that person, but also for everyone to gain an understanding of the impact it is having on other family members and how best to support them.
Within the NHS, you can have family therapy alongside individual therapy.
Family therapy has been found to contribute to improvements in:
How to prepare for family therapy
