As much as we’d all like to get along all of the time, unfortunately many families around the world have conflicts which they struggle to resolve. In such a situation there are many options for the family members, and one of which is family therapy and counselling. This may sound like an extreme step but it is certainly an option which actively helps out thousands of families every year.
Photo, Priscilla Du Preez .
We only get one family and that is why it makes sense to do all that we can to make sure that we are on good terms with them, and that any conflicts are resolved. Here is exactly how therapy and counselling is able to achieve just that.
Utilising Professionals: Family therapy is conducted by either a psychologist, a clinical social work or by a fully licensed therapists. These professionals have many years of experience in conflict resolution and in family dynamics, and they will be on hand to facilitate the sessions and to set out clear goals for how to resolve an issue, as well as setting out a pathway to achieve it. When it comes to family lawyers Sydney has many who will play a key role in this process and it will often be the legal professionals who recommend therapy to a family or a family member.
What To Expect: With regards to what you can expect during family counselling, that will come down largely to what the issue is. Generally speaking however you can expect to have issues laid bare, this is the only way to repair any conflicts or problems, to first break the problem down in order to get to the root cause. You can expect a great amount of honesty and some information and emotions which may be distressing to hear or even to reveal. The role of the mediator here is to ask questions which bring forth those emotions.
Photo, Roberto Nickson.
Stepping Forward: Of course the idea of therapy or counselling is not just to deconstruct the family until the heart of the problem is found, this will be the first stage of the sessions. Following this, you can expect the conversation to focus on solutions instead of problems. Your sessions will take on a much more open and honest approach which will see the contribution of ideas from the family in order to seek resolution.
Continuation: Not every solution is destined to work and so you can expect to be sent away from the sessions with some tasks to work on. The reason for having follow up sessions is so that you can then assess how well a certain activity or task has worked, this will continue until a breakthrough is made.
Short term: What we see from these sessions is that they are incredibly effective and that is why most families are able to view therapy as a short term thing. Ultimately the role of therapy and family counselling is to set your family on the right track and give it the tools to fix its own issues.
Therapy is not a sure fire way to fix family issues, but it forms part of the process for families to resolve their own conflicts and improve the dynamic of the family unit.
