Family Therapy

Family therapy is a structured environment in which families meet, together at times and individually at times, with a family therapist to address relationship problems. The family therapist helps to facilitate communication, set guidelines, recognize problematic patterns, build empathy, and ensure that all members of the family are heard. Through family therapy activities and the therapeutic environment, your family therapist can help individual members of the family to recognize the ways in which they contribute to the family’s problems, and also, suggest changes to improve the relationships.

The general goal of family therapy is quite simple - benefit the well-being of individual members of the family and the family unit as a whole. Specific family therapy goals vary greatly, but might include:

• Support family members with addiction, ADHD, depression, or anxiety
• Resolve parenting issues
• Adjust to evolving gender roles
• Respond to chronic illness or health problems
• Address financial troubles and job loss
• Increase structure and support for children with emotional and behavioral problems
• Manage challenges related to coming out as LGBT+
• Adjust to divorce
• Blend families and change family structures
• Grieve the death of loved ones
• Adapt to geographic distance between family members

The mere complexity of family relationships means that the health and well-being of one member of the family often impacts other members of the family and the family as a whole. So, even if it appears that only one family member is responsible for the problems in the family, addressing the issues can have a positive impact on everyone.

Parents - Any dysfunction between parents will impact them and their children. It’s common for parents to assume that, if they hide their fighting from their children, their children will not be impacted. But the tension and distress that continues to exist, even if conflict is not out in the open, impacts parents’ actions toward one another and the whole family. Sometimes power struggles with teenagers and behavioral problems with children can result. A family therapist can improve communication, create honesty and trust in the family, help to identify the underlying causes for conflict and the impacts on others. Parents' personal experiences with anxiety, depression, addiction, alcoholism, and poor self-esteem also impact the family as a whole. Adults who seek the support of a family therapist honor their partner and children.

Teenagers - Research continues to show increasing mental health concerns among teenagers, for which family therapy may be crucial. Teenagers dealing with bullying, depression, eating disorders, cutting, anxiety, drug use, social isolation, LGBT+ identities, and trauma can certainly benefit from the support of a therapist. The impacts of these conditions can also ripple throughout the family, affecting trust, connection, and compassion. Power struggles become commonplace, leaving parents uncertain with how to support. Working with a family therapist can help family members understand their role in the teenager’s difficulties, improve communication, and develop new strategies that encourage good choices and healthy relationships.

Children - Young children, even as young as elementary school, can experience anxiety, depression, ADHD, learning problems, and bullying. In these instances, it’s almost always beneficial to involve the whole family in therapy. Siblings and parents might inadvertently be contributing to these difficulties, causing more distress on both the child and the family as a whole. In family therapy, members of the family can learn to effectively support and cope which ultimately minimizes stress and lessens the impacts at school and home.

All types of family therapy are designed to improve connections to one another through better communication, healthier coping skills, and more understanding of the impact of each individual on one another and on the family unit.  Your family therapy goals will always guide your therapy. 

Family Systems Family Therapy - Your family systems therapist will understand the family unit as an emotional web in which each person is connected to one another, both directly and indirectly. Each family member’s actions impact other members of the family emotionally and behaviorally. In family systems therapy, members of the family are encouraged to understand the roles that they play in the family and the impact of those roles on themselves and other members of the family. Through this enhanced understanding of roles, family members are empowered to recognize their patterns, the cause and effect of those patterns, and choose more positive behaviors that help each person and the family unit.

Cognitive Behavioral Family Therapy – As the name implies, cognitive behavioral family therapy is a type of CBT applied to the family unit. Your cognitive behavioral family therapist will focus on thoughts and behaviors. Unhealthy behaviors are replaced with more positive behaviors that are then reinforced. Agreements are made between family members that are designed to change the patterns in their relationships. The new patterns change perceptions and restructure distorted beliefs that result from negative and misunderstood interactions. Cognitive behavioral family therapy also focuses heavily on family members’ core beliefs about themselves and the world, in order to understand how these beliefs affect the actions and emotions of other family members.

You tell us!

We celebrate the diversity of families, whether related by blood or chosen. Our team includes therapists who specialize in LGBT+ families, spiritually diverse families, and families with strong cultural influence.

If you're looking for a family therapist in Chicago, you’re in the right place. Tandem Psychology has a team of experienced, highly effective family therapists. Contact us today to schedule an in-person appointment at our Lakeview offices or a telehealth appointment to meet virtually.