Leah Sue Weiss
Integrative Psychotherapy
Mind, Body & Heart
Due to Covid-19 all session are held online via tele-health
FAMILY THERAPY
A pathway to open lines of communication
Family therapy is a type of counseling that can
help families deal with important issues that may interfere with the
the functioning of the family and the home environment.
It is designed to improve and address:
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Communication skills and styles
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Solve family problems
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and develop empathy and compassion to understand difficult or
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challenging circumstances that face the home environment,
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such as:
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the death of a loved one
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serious physical or mental illness
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child/adolescent issues
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The Family is seen as a “living organism,” whereby each member of the family is seen as having a role within the family system. Problems are treated by changing the way the family system works, rather than trying to “fix” a family member.
The ultimate goal is to create a balanced, more functional family home.
Concepts in Family Therapy:
THE IDENTIFIED PATIENT:
The identified patient (IP) is the family member with the symptom that has brought the family into treatment. Children and adolescents are frequently the IP in family therapy. The concept of the IP is used by family therapists to keep the family from scapegoating the IP or using him or her as a way of avoiding problems in the rest of the system.
HOMEOSTASIS (BALANCE):
Homeostasis means that the family system
seeks to maintain its customary organization and functioning over time, and it tends to resist change. The family therapist can use the concept of homeostasis to explain why a certain family symptom has surfaced at a
given time, why a specific member has become the IP, and what is likely to happen when the family begins to change.
THE EXTENDED FAMILY FIELD: The extended family field includes the immediate family and the network of grandparents and other relatives of the family. This concept is used to explain the intergenerational
transmission of attitudes, problems, behaviors, and other issues. Children and adolescents often benefit from family therapy that includes the extended family.
DIFFERENTIATION: Differentiation refers to the ability of each family member to maintain his or her own sense of self while remaining emotionally connected to the family. One mark of a healthy family is its capacity to allow members to differentiate, while family members still feel
that they are members in good standing of the family.