Being in a family can mean a lot of things. Sometimes, it means sharing in the joy of someone reaching a goal after years of working for it, like watching a sibling graduate from college. Sometimes, it means going through uncharted waters together, like moving to a new place or welcoming new people into your family. And sometimes, it means giving support even when it’s not easy to be strong, like being there for a family member fighting against physical or mental illness.
Being in a family means being a part group of people going through the highest highs and the lowest lows together. Though your family members are probably the people you know best in the world, knowing how to navigate every situation with them is not always so easy. For a lot of challenging situations families face, there’s no guidebook or instruction manual on what to do.
It can be scary to feel stuck in a rut with the people you’re closest to — but you don’t have to go through it alone. At Thriveworks in Rochester, MN, we’re proud to offer family therapy to help you and your family get the support and guidance you need as you work through your struggles. Give us a call when you’re ready to get started.
How To Know if Family Therapy Is Right for You
Family therapy is a form of short-term psychotherapy. To someone unfamiliar with therapy, that sentence might sound a little clinical and intimidating. What it means though, is that family therapy is a place where you and your family members can go to improve your communication and work through conflicts.
Some situations that people work on in family counseling include:
- Dealing with the impact of physical or mental illness on the family
- Working through financial disagreements
- Undergoing big changes, like a move, a divorce, or a separation
- Mending broken trust or strained relationships
- Understanding and improving behavioral problems in children
- Facing the impact of substance abuse
- Coping with the loss of a loved one
- Improving communication or resolving conflicts
It’s also important to note that family therapy isn’t just for people who are blood-related. We understand that there are many different kinds of families, and family therapy is designed for any group of people connected by long-term supportive relationships.
Whatever your family dynamic may look like, our family therapists are trained to observe how you act as a unit and use those observations to help guide you through your issues and strengthen your relationships. Contact our scheduling team at Thriveworks in Rochester, MN to find an appointment time that works for you.
What Is the Goal of Family Therapy?
Thinking of the family as an interconnected system is useful for understanding that this form of psychotherapy is not about figuring out who to place individual blame on. Instead, the goal of family therapy is to address how individual problems manifest in the context of the family to then figure out how to work through those issues as a collective unit.
In other words, family therapy emphasizes that the way to get through problems or difficult times is by working together. To do this, your provider will likely spend therapy sessions facilitating an open and honest dialogue about the perspectives and experiences of each family member, with the ultimate goal of creating an environment for understanding. This might mean that your counselor uses techniques from one or more forms of therapy, like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), to work on strengthening your relationships.
These techniques will focus on building skills such as:
- Exploring and understanding roles in the family
- Recognizing and diffusing stressors
- Listening actively and communicating intentionally
- Practicing empathy
- Setting healthy boundaries
While family therapy can be incredibly beneficial, it’s also not magic. That means that your problems may not be neatly resolved after one or two sessions. However, with time, you’ll learn how to work through specific problems and develop skills that you and your family can take with you far past the end of your time in therapy.
Our mental health professionals at Thriveworks in Rochester, MN are ready to give your family the tools it needs to build a happier and healthier future together. Connect with our scheduling team or click our booking widget to get started.
Start Family Counseling Today at Thriveworks in Rochester, MN
When you’re ready to start attending therapy with your family, we’re here for you. We understand that getting family members in the same place at the same time is easier said than done, so we offer the choice between in-person and online counseling, even on evenings and weekends. Use our hassle-free scheduling tool or call our scheduling experts to find an appointment time that works for you.
We also understand that sometimes life happens, so we offer a flexible cancellation policy as well as phone and email access to your provider in between sessions.
Our family therapists and counselors look forward to meeting you. Contact us today at Thriveworks in Rochester, MN to schedule your first family therapy appointment.
