Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy or family systems therapy, is a branch of psychotherapy that helps open new avenues of change and development for families and couples in close relationships. Family therapy can help resolve conflicts and improve communication, understanding and cooperation among family members. It also is instrumental in identifying and rectifying destructive behaviors or attitudes.
In addition to treating problems, family therapy can help prevent problems from occurring in the first place. Couples who plan to adopt children, or engaged couples with children from previous marriages, find that a trained therapist can help them anticipate and thereby avoid potential difficulties. Because family therapy places emphasis on family relationships, it can contribute significantly to psychological health.
Family therapy has been used effectively to resolve a range of human dilemmas, and is a fundamental part of our practice at Healing Pathways Medical Clinic Inc. The practice of family therapy encompasses numerous counseling, instruction and coaching techniques, including communication theory, psychoeducation, psychotherapy, relationship education, systemic coaching, systems theory, reality therapy and media psychology.
Family therapy typically is a short-term program. The number of sessions required depends upon the nature of the problem, but the process of identifying, responding to and resolving problems typically averages five to 20 meetings.
In some situations, one family member must undergo psychiatric treatment for an individual problem before family therapy can proceed productively. In such cases, our therapists are able to make referrals to psychiatrists quickly through our internal network of collaborative clinicians, with very little waiting time.
Our psychotherapists also work closely with our group of licensed marriage and family therapists (MFT), who are readily available to see families who need their specialized counseling services. Collaboration among our specialists is a hallmark of Healing Pathways, and their interactions yield beneficial outcomes for individual patients as well as their family members.
Healing Pathways also has expertise in pharmacotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), hypnotherapy, family therapy, applied behavior analysis, and art therapy.
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