The psychiatrist David Viscott once stated, “To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.” That is the ideal equilibrium of a household. Family members are communicating, everyone feels loved, and everyone feels safe expressing their own feelings. But unfortunately, this ideal dynamic can sometimes break down. And some families even need help learning to establish that harmony to begin with. Family relationships can be difficult, and they’re loaded with all the baggage from all the families through all the generations that preceded them. But great families can break from negative historic cycles and forge new, healthy ways of being together. And marriage and family therapists can help.
At Thriveworks in Davie, FL, licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFTs) and other mental health professionals with training in family therapy can help couples or family members enhance their bonds and reinforce their strengths. Marriage and family therapy isn’t about telling someone they’re doing something wrong. Sometimes it’s about finding things that are being done right. And it’s about everyone learning to see issues from each other’s perspectives. This is a process that family counseling providers at Thriveworks can help facilitate with their insights, compassion, and expertise.
Who Needs Family Therapy?
All kinds of families can benefit from family therapy. Family members don’t need to be in crisis to seek counseling, though sometimes big life transitions or distressing conflicts can be what gets them in the clinic door. Thriveworks family therapists in Davie, FL treat families for a wide variety of issues that can interfere with household harmony, including the following:
- Mood disorders like major depression and postpartum depression
- Anxiety
- Grief
- Financial stress
- Marital conflict
- Rebellion
- Juvenile delinquency or crime
- Estrangements
- Conflicts and tension
- Emotional or verbal abuse
- Chronic illness
- Caregiver burnout
- Eating disorders
- Behavioral problems
- Neurodiverse children issues
- Substance abuse and addiction
- Codependency
- Perfectionism
- Unhealthy parenting styles
Family therapy can also help improve communication, solve problems, and teach family members how to see each other’s points of view. Family therapy can help maintain healthy relationships, not just repair those that feel broken.
What Is the Best Way to Conduct a Family Therapy Session?
The best way to conduct a family therapy session is to talk first about objectives. What are everyone’s specific goals for therapy? At Thriveworks in Davie, FL, clients come to family therapy with a variety of goals in mind, including the following:
- To heal or reconcile
- To improve rapport
- To reduce conflict and tension
- To forgive, or ask for forgiveness
- To establish healthy boundaries
- To get through a hurdle
- To manage anger
- To build mutual trust
- To explore misunderstandings
- To prevent future conflict
- To find individual support
Treatment plans don’t need to be long-term. In fact, most families are able to find resolution for their problems in 12 sessions or fewer. This is because family therapy is often short term and solution focused.
How Does Family Therapy Work?
After exploring everyone’s goals for therapy, a family therapist will use games, exercises, and honest discussion in a safe space to facilitate the advancement of those specific goals. A therapist may use the sessions to uncover interesting dynamics in the family such as the following:
- Individual roles that everyone plays
- Implicit strengths and weaknesses
- Unspoken rules and codes of behavior
- Communication patterns
- Emotional triggers
- Historical context
- Individual perspectives
A family therapist doesn’t assign blame to anyone, though they may identify areas where someone could benefit from individual therapy. For example, a parent with depression may need to seek treatment if it becomes obvious that their mood disorder is affecting everyone.
What Are the Benefits of Family Therapy at Thriveworks?
Family therapy at Thriveworks in Davie, FL confers multiple benefits. Thriveworks mental health providers accept most major forms of health insurance. They’re all fully licensed. And they can meet with family members in-person at the modern office, or virtually anywhere through online counseling sessions. For extended families, families that are estranged, or families that have grown children, online counseling can be a convenient way to get everyone together in one place without having to travel to the same physical location.
The family therapists at Thriveworks are recruited from the top 4% of providers in the Miami area, making them abundantly qualified to help Davie families. They are skilled in a wide variety of evidence-based therapeutic approaches including strength-based and family systems. They also have a passion for helping people connect.
Strengthen Your Bonds with Family Therapy at Thriveworks in Davie, FL
The fully licensed, highly qualified family therapists at Thriveworks in Davie, FL are ready to meet with families as early as tomorrow. They can often hold initial sessions with new clients within 24-48 hours of booking. And when you enroll in Thriveworks, you can also access your provider by phone or email between sessions. Call the office today to schedule your first appointment. We look forward to hearing from you and your loved ones.
