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What Is Family Therapy?

Family therapy (also known as family counseling) aims to address the psychological, behavioral, and emotional issues that cause family problems. This type of therapy is used to help everyone involved deal with a difficult period, a major transition, or the mental health challenges of a family member. Family therapy can be conducted in a therapist’s office or virtually, through online telehealth visits.

What Can Family Therapy Help With?

Family therapy can help improve relationships with partners, children, and other family members. People often go into family therapy to address specific issues such as marital or financial problems, conflict between parents and children, or the impact of substance abuse or mental illness on their family.

Specific family issues often addressed include:

  • A family member’s illness or death
  • Unhealthy family communication
  • Parent separation or divorce
  • Caring for a family member with special needs
  • Behavioral problems at home or school
  • Issues with extended family members

What Are the Different Types of Family Therapy?

There are several types of family therapy to address different challenges. Therapists may use one or more of these modalities, including:

  • Systemic Family Therapy
    This therapy approach looks at your family as a whole and considers how each member’s actions affect the family. Systemic family therapy aims to help you better understand your family functions, how you influence each other, and how these dynamics change over time; with the goal of improving your family’s interactions.
  • Structural Family Therapy
    This kind of therapy is based on the idea that emotional and behavioral concerns in children and teens are often connected to dysfunctional family structures. The treatment focuses on understanding boundaries and systems within a family so that everyone can interact in more productive ways. Structural family therapy can help develop appropriate boundaries and strengthen the relationships among family members.
  • Strategic Family Therapy
    The goal in strategic family therapy is to identify and restructure the family interactions that lead to the problematic behavior of a child, teen, or young adult within the family. A therapist may focus on strengthening a family’s positive patterns while helping family members change behaviors that aren’t helpful, particularly for a young person in crisis.

What Techniques Are Used During Family Therapy?

Techniques used in family therapy focus on improving communication and collaboration, developing emotional awareness, and helping people accept things they cannot control.

Family therapy techniques that may be used fall into these categories:

  • Behavioral
    Behavioral techniques focus on learning skills that can help family members address specific problems. For example, role playing might be used to help family members see an issue from someone else’s perspective.
  • Psychodynamic
    Psychodynamic techniques assess how each family member interprets and responds to problems. Your therapist will work with your family to develop emotional insights and explore more positive ways of responding.
  • Structural
    Structural techniques help family members understand the boundaries and power dynamics within the family. These techniques can help families create new boundaries and establish routines to improve how the family functions.

LifeStance Health specializes in Family Therapy with multiple locations in 33 states. Services vary by location.

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What Is Expected During Family Therapy?

A therapist may begin the process by identifying the issues that are causing problems in the family. They will work with the family to formulate a plan of treatment and propose ways to meet the treatment goals. Then, it is a matter of communicating, learning, and committing to change.

For virtual sessions, the process is the same, but it’s important to choose a quiet and private space where everyone can easily participate and feels free to join the conversation.

What Are Signs That Family Therapy May Be Beneficial?

There are some telltale signs that a family should seek therapy:

  • It’s unclear who is in charge in the household
  • A family member has become disengaged and is unable or unwilling to reengage
  • There is a clear lack of communication or unhealthy communication patterns
  • There is constant conflict in the home

What Are The Potential Benefits of Family Therapy?

The benefits of family therapy can include:

  • Gaining a better understanding of each other’s needs and communication styles
  • Improving communication skills
  • Addressing current conflicts
  • Improving ways of preventing patterns of conflict from continuing
  • Learning important coping skills
  • Reducing chronic stress and anxiety

Family Therapy vs. Marriage Counseling

Marriage counseling focuses solely on couples, while family therapy focuses on any combination of parents, children, grandparents, and caregivers. If the relationship difficulties are mainly between couples, couples therapy or marriage counseling may suffice. However, if issues extend into the family, then family therapy may be the better option. Many families often benefit from participating in both marriage and family therapy programs to improve their relationships overall.

photo of LifeStance provider Matthew Solit, MSW, LMSW

Clinically Reviewed By:

Matthew Solit, MSW, LMSW
Head of Therapy Services
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Matthew Solit, MSW is the North Division Executive Clinical Director at LifeStance, serving the therapists and clinical directors across 21 states. Prior to stepping into the role of ECD, he served as Michigan Operations Director, with a primary focus on clinical operations. Matthew has over 20 years of varied leadership experience, most of which has been in the mental and behavioral health field. Throughout this, he has also made time to provide direct clinical care to those in need. He has spent time working in inpatient, outpatient, and sub-acute settings, working with an extensive variety of clinical challenges.

Matthew received his B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Arizona and his master s in social work from the Catholic University of America in his hometown of Washington, D.C. He has engaged in numerous speaking events on topics from clinical diagnostic skills-building to clinical best-practices and risk management. Matthew spends his off time with his wonderful family and two dogs. He enjoys cooking, woodworking, and gardening outside of his work with those in need.