Family Therapy
Do people in your family know how to get help and support from each other? Do they make time to share personal news and brainstorm solutions to problems? Does your home stay safe when someone expresses anger, sadness, and other difficult feelings? In family therapy, everyone becomes comfortable speaking out and listening while others do so.

Family therapy builds trust between family members. At the start of each session, everyone has a chance to offer topics for discussion.  People listen, thank each other for support, ask for advice, settle differences, and have fun together. Communication improves as the therapist makes sure that each person feels heard and understood. 

In therapy, family rule setting becomes a collaborative process.

• The parents establish basic expectations.
• Children contribute rules that reflect their own feelings and needs while accommodating parents’ requirements.
• Children and parents together establish rewards, incentives, and penalties.
• Penalties are set before rules are broken, since they cannot otherwise act to discourage bad behavior.
• Incentives build on each other daily, weekly, and monthly.
• You, the parent, can decide to recognize one child for excellent performance and also reward siblings for successful collaboration.  Alternatively, you may decree that no one earns a reward until everyone does.

It is possible to improve children’s compliance with parents’ directives while making home life more pleasant for everyone!

Some learning opportunities strengthen bonds. After a few sessions of family therapy, you may want to try instituting your own weekly powwow at home.

• Children and adults take turns leading and planning for this meeting.
• Invite each family member to share news, achievements, and concerns.
• During the meeting, encourage your children to practice negotiating, express disappointment or disagreement appropriately, and listen attentively even when someone else is voicing strong emotions.
• Keep your powwow from becoming a grouse session. Reserve a big chunk of time for games, food, and creative activity that people can look forward to each week.

Let everyone participate in inventing new traditions to celebrate your family’s unique identity. Fun experiences create not only good memories but also the energy to work out problems as they arise. To start boosting your family's spirit, or for more information, call 860-231-1997 or email me.