Family Therapy

Family Therapy provides a space for families to address issues in communication and relationships. Empathy and honesty are promoted within sessions, with the goal of ameliorating unwanted tension and strengthening familial bonds. The therapy looks at establishing each family member’s identity as individuals as well as the family unit as a whole and leads to the opening of more effective communication channels.

The implementation of Family Therapy can also be particularly effective in care settings, in which young people may struggle to find their role or place within an adoptive or foster family or residential placement. In these cases, we have found that young people may have had more autonomy prior to going into care, and therefore require help adjusting to the change in structure.

The reparative framework of this programme can be applied to family members of any age, being equally effective when working with young children, adolescents and adults. Most cases are referred to us through the Family Justice System, though we also work frequently with local authorities, residential care providers and private clients.

In undertaking Family Therapy, our therapists first assess the family’s history and then work with the group to understand each other’s perspectives and the dynamics at play within the unit. We can then use this understanding to provide a more bespoke course of therapeutic treatment.

Depending on the degree of intervention necessary, the length of the programme may last anywhere between 6 to 52 weeks. During this process, the therapist may identify that some individuals within the family group would benefit more from an individual course of therapy instead.

As a talking based therapy, the sessions themselves follow a clinical model that is primarily based in exploring the presenting issues through discussion. However, we have found that it can be very effective to include aspects of other models such as Creative Arts and Drama Therapy or Equine and Animal Assisted Therapy into the programme as well.