Family Therapy and Group Dynamics
When a trusted family friend or Doctor suggests family therapy, many people immediately think of the type of therapy involving a central therapist and a patient. Family therapy is much different than individual therapy, however, and more people would probably be more open to the idea if they knew what it entailed.
Group Dynamics in Family Therapy Focus
Many people avoid individual therapy because they don’t want to have to openly discuss personal information and ideas, for whatever reasons matter to them. Family therapy tends to deal more with the maintenance or resolution of a problem in a dynamic relational rather than identifying a specific issue in one person. It may help if you consider that a family therapist is generally more interested in what goes between people rather than in a single person. A therapist may point out to the family the ways in which interaction patterns are affecting the group as a whole, or how different ways of supporting one another may help. All of this, from suggesting different ways of responding to other family members to how those changes may then trigger an entirely different way of relating to one another as a group, is meant to lead to a more satisfactory and healthy group.
Family therapy is really a way of leading a group to communicating, thinking and responding as a healthy and supportive cohesive rather than an in-depth dissection of a single life. If your family is in need of family therapy but you have put it off because you were uncertain of what it entailed, contact a professional family therapist and find out if it is right for you.
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