Family Therapy

Most families experience serious difficulties sometimes. If it feels like family relationships are suffering, if you’re no longer sure what to do for the best, or family members seem stuck in repeating patterns of hurtful or harmful behaviour, Family Therapy may help.
Family Therapists work with difficulties in relationships, either in the family, or that affect family functioning, and these may include:

• problems in relationships within and outside the family
• stressful life cycle events
• complex school related problems
• emotional effects of loss and separation
• effects of family member/s' mental or physical functioning
• separation, divorce and step-family life
• reactions to trauma
• parental difficulties with understanding and managing adolescent development
• the effects of a developmental disorder (e.g.ADHD, Asperger's) upon the family

Family Therapists aim not to take sides, blame, or provide simple answers. Rather, they work to engage family members in sharing understandings and exploring ways forward that work for them. Some Family Therapists work in teams or in partnership with colleagues. Others work as individual therapists.

If Family Therapy is the most appropriate treatment, decisions about the number of sessions and the intervals between appointments are made collaboratively between the therapist and family. The number of appointments offered will depend on the family members’ needs. Most sessions last between 45 minutes and one and a half hours. Families referred for Family Therapy will be offered an appointment between 9-5 Monday to Friday.