Family therapists work to help families in difficulty and to open up new perspectives about people’s behaviors and perceptions as they apply to personal and family interactions. Family therapy involves a series of conversations which aim to generate new meanings and possibilities for relationship which may not have been previously considered. It provides a context for asking new questions and building new connections. Being engaged in the process of family therapy facilitates improved communication and increased understanding in relationships. It also reduces blame in the system.
Our Family Therapy offers the potential for healing for all sorts of situations, including relationship distress and breakdown, adolescent issues and many different illnesses.
Family therapy is a diverse endeavour that has a fifty year history of engaging with new and unorthodox ideas, of questioning commonly held views, and developing creative practices. The family therapy field is characterised by a number of themes including considering the problems people face in the wider context of life; considering people’s identities as constructed through family relations and through history and culture; and addressing people’s problems through an interactional or participatory approach – that is to say, by meeting with families and other relevant people.
Family therapy involves conveying meaning and the telling of stories, but the ways in which this occurs differ enormously depending upon the people involved. There is a great diversity of ways in which stories can be told and conveyed that do not require a sophisticated level of education or any particular eloquence. People try to make themselves understood in a great variety of ways. It is my role to engage with the experience and meaning of the family I work with in whichever way or shape the expressions of this meaning occurs.
