This answer often looks different to each family that starts family therapy. However, some signs that your family might need to consider family counseling include frequent fights or misunderstandings, constant tension, experiencing loss, behavioral issues, marital issues, divorce, and blended family issues, among others.
The pastor Charles R. Swindoll once stated, “A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living.” There’s no manual for creating a healthy family; there’s only on-the-job training. A couple raising children might bring their preexisting notions about how families operate to the table, but those notions will inevitably need to adapt and grow over time. Sometimes this can lead to conflicts, misunderstandings, or even estrangements. But the good news is that deep family bonds usually survive these challenges. And you can make the process of growing together a lot richer and more comfortable with a qualified family therapist.
The family therapy services at Thriveworks in Woodridge, IL aim to help families solve their problems, reinforce their strengths, and enhance their bonds with exceptional guidance and support. Family therapy can be maintenance. It can be crisis intervention. It can be a workshop on healthy communication. Family members arrive at Thriveworks for family counseling with different goals in mind. But the universal elements in the treatment plan of a Thriveworks family therapist are compassion, expertise, and meaningful insight.
How Does Family Therapy Work?
Marriage and family therapy at Thriveworks in Woodridge, IL works by clarifying everyone’s point of view, sharing perspectives, and finding solutions to everyday problems that might affect a family’s healthy functioning. As they say, a family is only as happy as its least happy member. Family therapy can address everyone’s needs and goals with expert facilitation.
People come to family therapy for a wide variety of reasons. Sometimes pressing issues bring them to Thriveworks. These issues might include the following:
- Mood disorders
- Postpartum depression
- Anxiety
- Trauma
- Bereavement
- Financial stress
- Marital stress
- Rebellion
- Juvenile delinquency or crime
- Estrangements
- Conflict and tension in family relationships
- Emotional or verbal abuse
- Chronic illness
- Caregiver burnout
- Anorexia or bulimia
- Behavioral problems
- Neurodiverse children issues
- Substance abuse or addiction
- Codependency
- Perfectionism
- Unhealthy parenting styles
What Is a Counselor’s Role in Family Therapy?
For people who have never been to therapy before, the idea of “airing one’s dirty laundry” to a stranger might seem intimidating at first. But it’s sometimes a lot easier to speak to someone objective, someone who’s not emotionally involved in the situation, in order to sort through complexities and engage in problem solving. A family counselor’s role is to facilitate open dialogue between parties. The therapist does this by putting everyone at their ease, encouraging family members to share their points of view, listening closely to everyone, and providing insights or guidance where it’s needed.
At Thriveworks, the licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFTs) seek to help families achieve their goals, often in 12 sessions or fewer. These goals might include the following:
- To heal or reconcile
- To improve communication
- To reduce conflict and tension
- To forgive, or ask for forgiveness
- To establish healthy boundaries
- To manage anger and other emotions
- To build or rebuild trust in each other
- To explore the origins of misunderstandings
A family counselor can also help a family identify areas where an individual family member might need additional support. For example, maybe someone’s alcohol use disorder (AUD) is affecting everyone in the family. Family therapy should continue so everyone can work through their feelings, but the person with AUD may be encouraged to seek individual therapy as well.
What Is the Best Way to Conduct a Family Therapy Session?
Family therapy doesn’t always go smoothly. An exceptional family therapist is able to guide a conversation even amidst interruptions and arguments. The family therapists at Thriveworks in Woodridge, IL do not pick sides or assign blame to family members. Their job is to facilitate healthy expression by asking the right questions and shepherding hidden dynamics into the open. Family therapists might use icebreaker questions, games, or even homework activities to broaden the scope of emotional inquiry. They are the leader of the group in therapy, but they also let things play out naturally as much as possible.
Enhance Your Bonds with Family Therapy at Thriveworks in Woodridge, IL
Family therapy at Thriveworks in Woodridge, IL is a convenient, comfortable, and affordable way to give you and your family members the short-term or long-term support you need to achieve your relationship goals. Thriveworks mental health professionals can meet with clients in-person with traditional counseling at the modern office. Or they can do online counseling, making it easier for family members who live far apart to get together.
Thriveworks family therapists are recruited from the top 4% of providers in the area. They are all fully licensed in Illinois. This means they can accept most major forms of health insurance coverage, helping to keep therapy accessible to all who need it. Thriveworks clients can make an appointment quickly, usually meeting with their therapist within 24-48 hours of their call. Clients can also reach out to their providers between sessions by phone or email.
We look forward to getting your family the support it needs. Call Thriveworks today.