Family therapy is not just to help your child but to help the entire family unit. It facilitates ways for the whole family to communicate better and open up about things they may not even realize were causing issues.
Parents especially can gain significant benefits from family therapy that they may not think they need or expect. If and when your child needs therapy, you’re not only there for support. Using therapy to develop your own set of tools for better communicating your expectations and understanding your child will benefit everyone.
The Family Therapy Design
Mental health conditions, substance use disorder (SUD), and attachment disorder affect the entire family, especially when they co-occur. None of the effects of these are exclusive to one person. If a child is impacted by any of these, it will impact parents, siblings, and extended family.
Family therapy can be one aspect of treatment for an individual, but it benefits the whole family and how they’ve been affected. However, family therapy can also be an option on its own for the entire family to heal together.
During family therapy, individuals in the family unit will focus on addressing psychological, behavioral, and emotional issues that have led to problems within the family. During therapy, each member will work with the therapist and one another to communicate and develop skills to build a healthy relationship.
Anyone can participate in family therapy, from a spouse to parents, siblings, extended family, sponsors, and friends. The goals of family therapy differ depending on each individual’s progress in treatment and the state in which the family enters. The goals will grow and change as progress is made, but for the most part, the goal of family therapy is to work together toward common goals such as:
- Building trust
- Reconciling conflict
- Dissolving guilt and beginning to forgive
- Strengthening bonds and removing blame
- Creating hope from fear
- Reducing frustration and increasing understanding
- Finding peace without anger
- Supporting each other
Amid an active addiction or mental health struggle, it can seem like these things are impossible to achieve, but through each therapy session, members will learn how to build patience, acceptance, and respect. From small things like not interrupting each other to learning to truly forgive someone, progress is made in each session.
As the therapist observes and begins understanding how family members communicate and where they can improve, they will provide encouragement through methods such as role-playing and homework assignments.
What Family Therapy Treats
Studies have proven that involving family members in SUD treatment positively affects client engagement, retention, and outcomes. Not only does family therapy aid the person in treatment, but it also improves outcomes in recovery from:
- Conduct disorders
- Offending behaviors
- Substance addictions
- Depression
- Conflicts
- Marital problems
- Parenting problems
- Lack of communication or emotional expression
- Adjustment periods like a death in the family or divorce
- Facing chronic illness
Family therapy is not a cure for any of these struggles, but it is a continuous treatment method that can make the struggles manageable and strengthen your family. Putting all the weight of a major struggle onto one person is unfair and nonsensical. To heal from a family disease, the family must get treatment.
This can be difficult for those who are stubborn or believe they aren’t the problem. Even so, family therapy provides individuals with education, understanding, and patience and may help them discover things about themselves and their families that make working through problems much smoother.
Benefits of Family Therapy for You
Family therapy treats the whole family, but that doesn’t mean participants can’t gain insight and benefits individually. The benefits of family therapy go beyond the group. Although that is the main reason for participating, and quite a good one, individual family members can get more out of it than they ever imagined.
Often, until someone undergoes therapy, even in a group, they can be blind to their own faults or missteps. Even if one person has supported another in every way they know how, they aren’t perfect. Odds are, there is a lot one can learn about one’s own behavior. This isn’t to place blame on one family member, but so that they can work on themself as well.
Through family therapy, participants may learn and gain tools that help them in a multitude of ways, such as:
- Increased self-awareness
- Improved patience and understanding
- Knowledge of mental health and SUD
- Newfound respect for others
- Tools to help and support loved ones
- Better communication skills
- Problem-solving
- Anger management
These are just some of the many benefits of family therapy that will impact individuals, families, and all other relationships and interactions.
Havenwood Academy is a residential treatment program for adolescent girls struggling with attachment disorders, mental health conditions, or substance abuse. Although our goal is to help your child thrive, we take family involvement seriously. Participation in your daughter’s treatment is vital to her comfort level and progress. When you take part in family therapy to support her growth, you may find yourself growing and healing from your own struggles, whether they stem from her battles or your own. Havenwood Academy provides family therapy weekly to help ensure your family’s successful progression. Yes, your daughter is the priority, but taking part in family therapy for yourself as well will make you a better parent for her. We will help you and your daughter heal together so you can improve your connection. Call us at (435) 586-2500 to learn more about our process.
Think Havenwood Might Be For You?
We encourage any visitors considering placing their daughter in treatment to fill out our online assessment as soon as possible. This two minute form will give our admissions team all the information needed to determine if your daughter is a good fit for our program.
Eric Allred was born and raised in Rigby, Idaho. He grew up on a family farm where he learned the value of work. He graduated from Rigby High School and attended Rick’s College, now known as BYU-Idaho. He received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Utah State University, received a master’s degree in organizational behavior and human relations from the University of Phoenix and a second master’s degree in marital and family therapy from Phillips Graduate Institute. Eric has been involved in Rotary and was president of a local Rotary Club. He enjoys being with his family and doing outdoor activities such as fly fishing.
Chase was very fortunate to start in this industry as a struggling 17 year old kid looking for a mentor and something to be passionate about. Wilderness therapy was Chase’s first stop in this industry and was truly a transcendental experience for him. Chase has an enormous love for this line of work and the power that it has in creating change in everyone involved. Chase’s biggest belief is the power a mentor, strong, healthy relationships, and accountability can have on anyone, especially youth. Taking a very relational approach to his work, Chase has always been very relatable to the students he works with. Being able to understand and relate to a vast variety of the same struggles as a lot of the students he works with has been able to help him continue to grow, learn, and teach. Chase believes that with great rapport and trust, he can use his experience to continue to coach and train new staff, and has the ability to find those staff with the passion for this industry, and help them grow. His love and passion can be felt the moment you talk with Chase about this industry and he passes that on to others he works with. In his spare time you will find Chase cheering for the Eagles, Yankees, and Mavericks, hanging out with his brother, learning more about Eastern Psychology, and continuing to grow and learn.