Family therapy helps families cope with relationship problems. See if it could help you.
Your family can be your greatest source of support, comfort and love. But it can also be your greatest source of pain and grief. A health crisis, mental illness, work problems or teenage rebellion may threaten to tear your family apart.
Family therapy can help your family weather such storms. Family therapy can help patch strained relationships, teach new coping skills and improve how your family works together. Whether it's you, your partner, a child or even a sibling or parent who's in crisis, family therapy can help all of you communicate better and learn to get along.
Who can benefit from family therapy?
In general, anyone who wants to improve troubled relationships can benefit from family therapy. Family therapy can help with such issues as:
- Marital problems
- Divorce
- Eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia
- Substance abuse
- Depression or bipolar disorder
- Chronic health problems, such as asthma or cancer
- Grief, loss and trauma
- Work stress
- Parenting skills
- Emotional abuse or violence
- Financial problems
Your family may do family therapy along with other types of mental health treatment, especially if one of you has a serious mental illness that also requires intense individual therapy. Family therapy isn't a substitute for other necessary treatments. For instance, family therapy can help family members cope if a relative has schizophrenia. But the person with schizophrenia should continue with his or her individualized treatment plan, such as medication and possibly hospitalization.
In some cases, family therapy may be ordered by the legal system. Adolescents in trouble with the law may be ordered into family therapy rather than serving jail time, for instance. Violent or abusive parents are sometimes spared jail if they enter family therapy. Divorcing couples may also be required to attend family therapy.
How do you choose a family therapist?
Like other psychotherapists, family therapists are licensed mental health professionals. Although different states have different licensing or credentialing requirements, most states require advanced training, including a master's or doctoral degree, graduate training in marriage and family therapy, and training under the supervision of other experts. Many marriage and family therapists opt to become credentialed by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), which sets specific eligibility criteria.
Most family therapists work in private practice. But they may also work in clinics, mental health centers, hospitals and government agencies.
Ask your primary care doctor for a referral to a marriage or family therapist. Family and friends also may give you recommendations based on their experiences. Your health insurer, employee assistance program, clergy, or state or local agencies also may offer recommendations. You can also look in the phone book.
Last Updated: 10/10/2007
