Couples & Families
Couples therapy is used to treat relationship distress for both individuals and couples. The purpose of couples therapy is to restore a better level of functioning in couples who experience relationship issues. The reasons for distress may come from a wide spectrum of issues. These issues may include poor communication skills or incompatibility. The focus of couples therapy is to identify the source of dissatisfaction and distress in the relationship. Treatment objectives include improving or alleviating the presenting symptoms and restoring the relationship to a better and healthier level of functioning. Couples therapy may assist persons having complaints of intimacy and/or communication difficulties.
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Family therapy can help improve troubled relationships with partners, children, or other family members. You may address specific issues such as marital or financial problems, conflicts between parents and children, or the impact of substance abuse or a mental illness on the entire family.
You may pursue family therapy along with other types of mental health treatment, especially if one of you has a mental illness or substance abuse issues that also require additional therapy or rehabilitation treatment.
For example:
Family therapy can help family members cope if a relative has a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia—but the person who has schizophrenia should continue with his/her individualized treatment plan.
In the case of substance abuse, the family may attend family therapy while the person who is using substances participates in individual or residential treatment. Sometimes the family may participate in family therapy even if the person with substance use hasn’t sought out his/her own treatment.
Family therapy can be useful in any family situation that causes stress, grief, anger, or conflict. It can help you and your family members understand one another better and learn coping skills to bring you closer to each other.