Mental and emotional traumas often affect the whole family. We carry these traumas throughout life until we address them and deal with the deeper wounds. Each family member is often affected in their own way and needs to recover at their own pace in their own time. What we don’t address in our families of origin we often take with us to our next relationship and repeat or recreate to heal the wounded inner child. Family therapy and counseling is a way of addressing the whole family system and identifying roles, self-worth, core values and beliefs, messages, and perspectives from each family member from childhood. Therapy and counseling for families is a proactive step you can take to help you work through the unresolved issues you might be struggling with as a family.

Family Therapy and Counseling: A Way To Move Forward

When we live in a healthy home environment, the people we call family help to empower and support us and improve our way of life. When these relationships break down or become stressed, it can become an unhealthy and toxic environment. Family therapy helps to process issues in some of the following ways:

Expressing Feelings and Needs

Communication is an important part of working through underlying problems, no matter the setting. Family therapy sessions give the members of your family an opportunity to speak and open up about their feelings. This helps each member learn to listen and express their needs in a safe environment, and understand and validate each other’s perspective.

Evaluating Family Dynamics

Often, we live in spaces where our roles are clearly defined, and we don’t even realize it or feel we have choices. Learn more about your relationships with the people around you, both good and bad. Once you understand what role you have in someone else’s life, you can work more effectively on your relationship with them.

Learning Healthy Coping Skills

While it might not feel like it, often the ways in which we address challenges in life aren’t completely healthy. We may think we’re “dealing with it”, but the mechanisms we use are counterproductive. Family therapy helps to get everyone on the same page, progressing in a direction that benefits the whole family. Learn healthy boundaries, parent skills, and healthy coping skills.

Improving Connections Between Parent And Child

In any relationship, there have to be healthy boundaries. Family therapy sessions help you to establish structural roles and explore the hierarchy of your identity as a parent. This is invaluable in establishing the tone of your household, putting each person in their place and helping to strengthen the bonds between parent and child.

Develop Your Relationships With Family Therapy

Family therapy is often overlooked in homes where anger, anxiety, and stress pull family members apart from each other. If you are dealing with the effects of a disrupted home life, or simply want help strengthening the bonds between family members, couples, and parents and children. Contact Total Health Concepts and find out more about our Family Therapy and comprehensive Counseling Services located in Virginia and Maryland.