The family consists of multiple individuals connected by biological and emotional bonds, where each person is in constant relationship with the others. It is the foundation of every social organization, in continuous movement and interaction with society and history, both of the individual and the community.
The family is therefore the first fundamental context in which an individual experiences themselves, the world, and relationships. It is also the place for cultural transmission of values, traditions, and motivations that directly contribute to building one’s identity.
Sometimes it is not the individual who becomes ill, but the entire family unit that is suffering; the individual member with their disorder (for example, an eating problem) becomes the “spokesperson” for a more generalized distress. In Family Therapy, the focus thus shifts from the individual to the family, which is understood as a “system”.
The goal of therapy is then to modify dysfunctional family interactions or dynamics that cause suffering, through therapeutic work with all members who are part of it.
In this view, the individual manifesting the symptom is not considered the “sick one” (in contrast to healthy family members): all family members are considered people belonging to the same “system,” where the symptom manifested by the individual acquires a specific function and meaning, and is originated and maintained by problematic interactions and dynamics operating within the family.
Family Psychotherapy thus fulfills the function of:
- activating the family’s resources
- facilitating the overcoming of certain “developmental tasks”
- encouraging reorganization and overcoming of certain pathological mechanisms
- seeking new equilibriums
The aims of Family Psychotherapy are directed at:
- eliminating emotional and communicative blocks that prevent members from relating more serenely
- supporting the family during crisis situations related to evolutionary changes and life cycle phases (a member leaving, birth of a child…) and promoting acceptance of change and reorganization
- supporting the family that is facing a sudden event (illness, death of a member…) or the psychological disorder of a component (anorexia…), which affect the entire family structure
Family Psychotherapy is particularly indicated in cases of:
- families going through a difficult period
- issues between parents and children
- issues between separated parents and children
- issues related to a physical or psychological illness of a member
The main areas of therapeutic intervention are:
- the three-generational history of the family (grandparents-parents-children)
- the current relational and communicative organization of the family
- the function and meaning of a component’s symptom within the family “system”
- the life cycle phase that the family is going through
- Family Psychotherapy involves the presence of all family members and can be conducted in co-therapy, that is, by two therapists simultaneously.
The sessions last about an hour and a half and have a frequency that can vary from once every two weeks to once a month.
