The television host Sam Levinson once stated, “Insanity is hereditary: You can get it from your children.” This classic joke has comedic value, of course, but there’s also some truth in it. The people we love the most have the most power to push our emotional buttons. Family members are usually so close emotionally that it’s hard to disentangle from a conflict and find the insights necessary to find resolution. Sometimes family issues require an unbiased outsider’s guidance and perspective. That’s where family therapy at Thriveworks in Oklahoma City, OK can help.
What Is the Role of a Counselor in Family Therapy?
A licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) serves as an effective facilitator in family therapy sessions. The highly qualified, top-rated, fully licensed counselors at Thriveworks in Oklahoma City, OK support each family with expertise and compassion. They help family members see issues from each person’s perspective, and they give families the tools they need to solve their problems. Family therapists aren’t there to take sides or tell one family member that they’re to blame. Their job is to support the whole family in whatever way they can most benefit.
People come to family therapy with a wide variety of objectives, including the following:
- Reconciliation
- Improvement of communication and overall rapport
- Reduction in conflict and tension
- Forgiveness
- Establishment of healthy boundaries
- Anger management
- Building mutual trust
- Substance abuse issues
- Exploration of misunderstandings
- Modification of problem behaviors
Sometimes a family’s goals revolve around a force they can’t control like financial stress, a chronic illness, or a death in the family. Other times, one family member’s mental health condition is affecting the family as a whole. In that event, family therapy can help everyone process their feelings and find healthy ways to cope. A family therapist can also help direct an individual to private mental health resources.
What Is the Best Way to Conduct a Family Therapy Session?
There’s no one best way to conduct a family therapy session. Even the basics can vary. For example, the licenced counselors at Thriveworks in Oklahoma City, OK can meet with clients in-person, in the modern office, in the traditional way. But they can also meet with clients virtually, in online counseling sessions. Family members may find online sessions more comfortable and convenient for group counseling, and Thriveworks therapists are open to both virtual and in-person options–or even a hybrid model.
A family therapy session should begin by putting everyone at their ease, whether through icebreaker exercises, games, or something else. A therapist will want to understand everyone’s individual goals for the sessions. A therapist will also want to make sure everyone gets a chance to speak and feel heard. It may help to think of a family therapy session as a safe zone where everyone’s voice matters. A family therapist can help keep communication within certain guidelines to help foster understanding.
Family Therapy Interventions
Family therapists use a variety of interventions to help explore sensitive issues and find solutions that work for everyone. They may want to facilitate a discussion about the roles everyone plays within the family, or about implicit rules within the family system.
In family therapy at Thriveworks in Oklahoma, OK, counselors may harness any of the following psychological approaches:
- Milan
- Strategic
- Structural
- Systemic
- Communication theory
- Narrative
- Transgenerational
Some common exercises that family therapists use to understand family dynamics better include:
- Miracle question, where everyone reveals their needs
- Genogram, where you map extra information in a family tree
- Scavenger hunt, where you collect meaningful objects
- Family gift, where you use gifts to provoke discussion
- Mirroring activity, where you learn to work together
- Emotions ball, where you describe emotions using a ball game
These interventions might seem fun and trivial at first, but they can actually be powerful therapeutic tools to uncover hidden conflicts and emotions with families.
Support Your Bonds with Family Therapy at Thriveworks in Oklahoma City, OK
Family therapy at Thriveworks in Oklahoma City, OK is an exceptional way to show your family that you care and that you’re willing to put in the work to figure out your differences and strengthen your family relationships. The mental health professionals at Thriveworks are all fully licensed and accept most major forms of health insurance, making marriage and family therapy at Thriveworks all the more affordable. Whether you need to address specific issues or reinforce existing bonds, Thriveworks has a counselor for you.
When you call to arrange a family counseling session at Thriveworks in Oklahoma City, OK, a counselor can often meet with you within 24-48 hours. That means you may meet with a top-rated family therapist as early as today or tomorrow. Further client benefits include email and phone access to providers between sessions and weekend and evening availability.
Call today to schedule your first session with an experienced, qualified family therapist. We look forward to helping you and your family members!
