Family therapy can help resolve communication problems between the couple.
A family therapist is a trained and licensed counselor who may come from a variety of different training fields or designations. These therapists may be called marriage and family therapists (MFTs), licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs), marriage, family and child counselors (MFCCs), psychologists, or psychiatrists. It may be obvious to state that a family therapist works with families or couples, but they can also work with individuals.
A family therapist will often work with couples, including sessions that include both partners.
Family therapists can work in many different settings. Many of them work in private practice and others may work in conventional hospitals or hospitals for the mentally ill. Some therapists not only provide advice, but also teach or supervise other therapists. Some family therapists may be employed by the public health system to provide counseling to low-income families or to help shape public policy and create educational materials for families. There are many different ways a family therapist can do her job.
A family therapist is well trained to defuse tense emotional situations.
The name family therapist doesn’t perfectly describe the occupation: Few therapists spend their entire practice counseling groups rather than individuals. Most therapists offer counseling to a variety of people, in groups or individually. They were trained in school and practice the differences between advising a group of people and advising a single person.
Family therapists can specialize and work with single parents.
In the context of working with families or couples, the therapist may conduct therapy sessions with all parties at the same time. If the therapist is really working with multiple members of a family, this would mean having sessions with all members present. Sometimes the family therapist may work with the parents first to get an idea of what the family is looking for. When working with couples, a family therapist may first see each member of the couple separately or choose to work with them together.
A family therapist can help teach partners stronger communication skills to strengthen their relationship.
The purpose of family therapy is to look at the way people interact with each other, to find ways for each family member to understand the others, and to use some instructions to help families communicate more clearly with each other. Essentially, the family therapist looks for areas of interaction that are dysfunctional, where the family or couple is dysfunctional. In the session, the therapist can help families see the areas where the group is not working well and try to address them in a variety of ways.
There are several reasons why a family or couple may seek therapy. A specific crisis may be occurring or the family simply wants to find more constructive ways to relate. Therefore, the work of the family therapist can be extremely varied, as each group or individual client presents different challenges and is unique.