The Benefits of Family Counseling

Transitions within the family can be tough. Significant life changes can bring conflict, confusion, and uncertainty to a family system, uprooting consistency and stability. Family counseling is a great resource to process difficult circumstances as a unit. Seeking family therapy has proven itself to be helpful during difficult transitions including divorce, a move, grief and loss, adding new family members (birth of a sibling, grandparent moving in, etc.), and a new diagnosis for an individual. Fostering healthy family relationships during difficult transitions can help family members adjust to their new norm as a system. Changes in behaviors can often be seen most prominently within the context of the family. Family therapy can be helpful in navigating these life changes.

Some of the benefits of family counseling are as follows:

• Improve Communication: Communication is key in healthy relationships, and can be difficult to attain. A family therapist can help individuals learn to communicate effectively with one another by creating a space where open, honest conversations can happen.
  
• Conflict Resolution: Learning to handle conflict in a productive manner can improve relationships within the family. Therapists can help families to enhance their problem solving skills by providing new techniques a family system can use to deal with conflict.
  
• Family Resiliency: Improving coping skills can help families become more resilient and stable in the face of inevitable challenges that will rise. Family therapists often teach helpful coping skills that the family can use to strengthen the system as a whole.
  
• Create Support: Family therapy can help members learn how to best support one another based on individualized needs. Family bonds are often strengthened through family therapy sessions.
  
• Identify Family Patterns: Within a family system, an individual’s behavior can affect the entire system. Family members can identify unproductive family patterns or dynamics, and make adjustments with the help of the therapist.

In addition to individual therapy, we offer family therapy at Bethel Haven. We would love to help you and your family build healthy relationship dynamics with one another through family therapy.