Family therapy is a form of psychotherapy that is often referred to as a “strengths-based treatment”, as it can help to adjust the patterns or systems creating a problem in the family that aren’t necessarily caused by one member. A counselor works with all family members to reduce conflict and stress by improving the communication and interactions between the family members. Family therapy is useful in addressing a variety of distressing life events, such as:

• a major change or trauma that affects the entire family, (moving to a new house, a family member going to jail, or adjustment to the outcome of a natural disaster)
• when divorce happens, when there is parental conflict, and/or when a stepparent or stepsiblings join the family
• when a child is having a problem in school, with substance abuse or an eating disorder
• when adjustments happen in the home (grandparents or other family members moving in, the birth of a sibling, an adoption, or addition of a foster child)