Family Therapy in London | Family Psychotherapy & Counselling

What is Family Therapy?

Family Psychotherapy & Counselling in London - Family therapy is a sort of talking psychotherapy that involves all the members of a nuclear family or stepfamily. In some situations, if required, the members of the extended family are also involved. A family therapist is usually conducted multiple sessions to help the family deal with the issues they are facing and to help them improve their home environment.

Family Therapy uses Evidence based Therapies to address conflict in the relationship between family members and improve communication.

The goal of this therapy is to help the family members improve their relationship, communication, solve their current and past issues, and handle any situation like death, marital issues, illness, child issues, etc. This therapy is based on providing families with a better home environment.

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What is a Family Therapist?

A family therapist is usually a trained professional who has experience in family therapy techniques. This therapist can be a psychologist, social worker, psychiatrist, or counsellor. A family therapist is the one who uses various techniques, makes plans, and does the scheduling as per the requirement of the time.

The therapist must sort out the issue and then take the necessary steps to resolve it. Also, a family therapist can work with families while treating the disorder of one of the members. For example, if a psychologist is treating an addicted person. He might do a little family counselling if something is going wrong on the family side. So, sometimes a family therapist works along with the psychiatrist as well.

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What does a Family therapist do?

A family therapist meets the family to discuss their issue and provide treatment for the conflict they are facing. Usually, the family therapist meets with the entire family to discuss the issues. But, they can also do one-to-one counselling if necessary with any of the members of a family. The goal of a family therapist is to address any mental or emotional issues that are harming a couple or the family on the whole.

A family therapist goes through various steps to know the issue and then prescribe the treatment. Mostly, family therapists help in implementing those treatments as well in the form of counselling. Being a family counsellor, they also must perform awareness seminars and give lectures about the compelling issues of a family.

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How can a Family Therapist help?

A family therapist helps by performing a variety of duties. The very first and foremost duty of the family therapist is to establish a good connection with the couple or the parents of the child. When they have sought out the family therapist, now it is up to the therapist to do the rest. The client-counsellor relationship is the first and foremost step.

Now, the family counsellor collects the information about the family to make a proper diagnosis for the treatment. This is done by speaking with the family members in detail or maybe individually to know what issue they are facing on their sides. The family therapist also plays the role of a detective because mostly the families don’t say what’s wrong.

A family therapist does counselling daily to get the work going. This is where the clients discuss their issues and sort them out. The therapist also keeps a record of their counselling sessions every time. From time to time, the therapist writes evaluation and make out plans. Every counselling session must be a step towards the issue resolution. Call IPC for Family Psychotherapy & Counselling in London.

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 When to seek the help of a Family Therapist?

Deciding if family therapy is the right fit for you at the moment is a big decision. You might feel like you are admitting your defeat, but sometimes choosing the family therapist is a better choice. So, if you are on the edge of seeking a family therapist, you might want to go through this checklist first. If your family is going through these symptoms, this is the time to seek a family therapist:

• If family members are having difficulty performing normal tasks together.
• Family members are showing extreme reactions over simpler things.
• If there is a sudden and significant communication barrier among family members.
• Family members are seen living their own lives away from family
• There are threats and violent behaviours with each other.
• Family members are expressing themselves to be hopeless and helpless.
• There is a significant change in children’s behaviour at school and you don’t know why
• There is a substance abuse issue in family

If you are feeling that your family is suffering from any of these issues, now is a great time to get access to a family therapist.

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 Issues That Can Be Treated with a Family Therapy approach

Family issues can be moderate to mild. There is a great variety of issues that can be dealt with by family therapists. However, one must know the intensity of these issues in the family. It can be a marital issue, some issues related to kids, and others. However, such issues can ruin the family environment. That’s why a family therapist is trained to handle such issues.

Here are some of the most common issues that be addressed by a family therapist

• Financial issues that are affecting the behaviours of family members
• Substance abuse among family members.
• Grief.
• Chronic illness to one of the members of the family.
• Separation among the parents.
• Divorce among the parents.
• Behavioural issues in the family members.
• Mental health concerns regarding the members of family members.
• Depression

There are plenty of more issues that can be resolved by a family therapist. If any issue is ruining your home environment, you must take it to a family therapist immediately.

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Qualification of a Family Therapist

To be working as a family therapist, it is required to undertake a for-year part-time training at all levels: Foundation, Intermediate, and Qualifying. In the end, the students undergo clinical group supervision, direct work with the clients, and they work for personal and professional development too on the side.

At the end of receiving the whole training, the students are up-to-date about the ethical boundaries, and the systematic techniques to practise independently. Again, their abilities are assessed through various ways such as supervision, dissertation, and clinical work presentation.