Family Therapy: what is it and how can it help my family?

The family is a basic social group in which there are, generally, kinship ties. Its function is to provide company, affection, information, protection, education and socialization, through the transmission of a culture and values.

To understand the dynamics and functioning of the family, it is important to conceive it as an open system, which is not isolated but is in continuous interaction with the environment. In addition, within the large system that is a family unit, it is common for subsystems to form as a result of the different alliances and coalitions that are formed between the components.

Each family is unique and different, since in all of them particular norms and codes are established. In addition, the dynamism that characterizes families implies that, far from remaining immutable, go through evolutionary cycles with changes and, of course, moments of more or less complex crisis.

Family, relationships and mental health

Defining what a family is in a universal way is especially complex. Families are subject to the influences of traditions, culture, and the political and socioeconomic context in which they find themselves. The importance of the family unit lies in the fact that it is the first socializing context for all people.the first natural setting in which members develop emotionally, physically, intellectually and socially, according to a set of models that have been experienced and internalized.

For all these reasons, it is not surprising that many emotional and psychological problems are closely related to the family environment. Certain psychopathological problems existing in the population, such as addictions, eating disorders and even sexual abuse, are frequently phenomena based on problematic family dynamics.

Although the impact of the family on mental health may seem obvious to us today, the truth is that it was not noticed until a few decades ago. It all started in the United States in the 1950s. Professionals in psychology and psychiatry began to observe that, when working with the families of their patients, the therapeutic results were much better than when the work was exclusively individual. This is how what we know today as family therapy began to take shape..

In Spain, it was not until the 1980s that work began in a more comprehensive manner, taking into account the family context of each patient. People are social individuals, so it is essential to understand each human being keeping in mind their relationships with others. In this article we are going to talk about family therapy, what it is and how it can help your family.

What is family therapy?

Family therapy is a type of psychological therapy whose function is to help family members improve their communication and resolve conflicts.. Generally, this therapy is directed by a psychologist, although in some countries social workers are also allowed to practice it, provided they are accredited to do so.

The ideal is that the therapy can be carried out with the participation of all its members, although sometimes only some are willing to do so. Although the intervention plan is different in each case, this type of therapy usually uses techniques such as:

• Teach communication, negotiation, and problem-solving skills
• Perform cognitive restructuring exercises
• work on empathy
• Enhance family strengths, positive affection, and enjoyable joint activities.

What is family therapy for?

Family therapy is very useful to improve conflictive family relationships. Sometimes, families come to therapy with a very specific request, but in other cases the tension between the members has become entangled in such a way that it is not easy to specify the central reason for consultation. This therapy is often applied together with individual therapy, especially when there is some type of pathology in one of the limbs. Among the most common problems that lead families to go to therapy are:

• Communication problems: when there is difficulty expressing emotions and needs adequately.

• Inappropriate and impulsive behaviors: physical and/or verbal aggression, substance use…

• Problems adapting to change: when the family has problems adjusting to new scenarios, such as the arrival of a new member, a change of residence, the loss of a job or the death of a loved one.

• Pathology in any member of the family: when one of the people in the family suffers from some type of chronic or disabling disease at a physical and/or mental level, it is necessary to intervene jointly in addition to carrying out individual therapy with the patient. Chronic pathologies are a challenge for the family system, since the roles and dynamics must adapt to a new reality that can be very complicated to assume.

• boundary problems: In many families, the application of the rules is inadequate, either due to excessive rigidity or excessive permissiveness. Restoring the boundaries is a complicated but very necessary job for any family to function properly.

• Daily life: In certain families there are no "serious" problems, but there are many difficulties in maintaining a healthy coexistence on a day-to-day basis. For example, there may be conflicts related to the division of household chores or the management of the family economy.

• External conflicts that affect children: Sometimes the origin of the family problem is not located inside but outside it. However, as we have already mentioned, every family is a system open to the outside, so external phenomena can have repercussions on family functioning. For example, if one of the children suffers from bullying at school, this will clearly affect the well-being of the family unit.

• Decision making: On many occasions, families encounter problems managing decision-making, due to disagreements, not knowing how to give in at certain times...

• Lack of respect: Family therapy is very important when the line of respect has been crossed through shouting, insults or physical aggression. Obviously, situations such as gender-based violence are excluded, where doing therapy makes no sense due to the asymmetry of power between the aggressor and the victim.

Many people feel insecure about family therapy because they don't know exactly what it is and what they can expect from it. Normally, several people from the family meet in the sessions, those who are willing to commit and participate. However, sometimes the therapist can make an appointment with one of the members individually if she considers it necessary.

A family therapy session lasts approximately one hour.. The number of sessions depends largely on each particular case, since each family has very different problems. During the course of the sessions, the therapist will analyze the ability of the family unit to solve their problems and express their thoughts and emotions appropriately.

In the same way, you will be able to explore the different roles in the family, the existing rules and codes and the behavior patterns of each member that can contribute to aggravating the problem. In addition to delving into the most negative and problematic part, therapy is also interesting to identify the strengths of the family and the points that, with the right work, can improve significantly.

It is important to have expectations adjusted to reality, since family therapy will not allow family conflicts to be resolved immediately. Nor will it allow to put an end to unpleasant situations that affect the family. What it does allow is to help the different members of the family to understand each other and communicate better, so that have strategies to deal with these unpleasant experiences in a healthier and more effective way.

In the same way, the therapy allows to increase the cohesion in the family, to encourage the respect of each member with their own desires and needs and to increase the mutual understanding and emotional support. Thus, therapy allows the group to function better, but also favors the well-being of each member individually.

Conclusions

In this article we have talked about family therapy and how it can be of great help to many families. The family is the first social group that all people know in their life, where basic needs of affection, company, education, socialization, etc. are met. This can be conceived as a dynamic system, since family units do not remain stable but go through different life cycles and moments of crisis.

In addition, it is an entity open to external influences, so the cultural, economic and political context has repercussions on its functioning and even on what is or is not considered a family. The importance of the family is crucial, since in it we internalize models and schemes of how relationships with others should be. It is for this reason that it is not surprising that the mental health of people is closely linked to the family.

A few decades ago, psychologists and psychiatrists noticed that family work significantly improved the results of their patients, so little by little the so-called family therapy began to be built. This type of therapy allows us to provide families with tools to manage their problems more effectively, favoring their cohesion and the individual well-being of their members.