Systemic Family Therapy

Family therapy starts from the idea that many emotional and relational difficulties cannot be understood from an individual’s experience alone — they also need to be understood in light of family bonds, family dynamics, and the context in which they appear and are sustained.

This approach isn’t about pointing fingers or deciding who “has the problem.” It’s about helping the family understand how its members relate to one another, which patterns keep repeating, which needs are going unmet, and which changes might support healthier functioning.

Family therapy can help with a wide range of situations: ongoing family conflict, communication difficulties, problems in the parent-child relationship, crises linked to major life changes, separation or family reorganisation, illness, grief, difficulties related to adolescence, problems with day-to-day coexistence, or moments when a family feels its usual ways of coping are no longer enough.

How we work

Treatment is adapted to each family’s characteristics and specific situation. Sometimes it makes sense to work with the whole family together; at other times, joint sessions are combined with sessions involving particular family members.

From a systemic perspective, we pay particular attention to:

• The patterns of relating and communicating that have become established within the family.
• The emotional needs of each family member.
• The stage of the family life cycle the family is currently in.
• The difficulties and resources present in the relationships between parents, children, siblings or partners.
• The influence that particular life events may be having on the family as a whole.
• The resources and strengths the family itself can draw on to bring about change.

The goal is to foster greater understanding between family members, improve communication, and help build more flexible, secure and satisfying ways of relating to one another.

How we get started

The first sessions are for understanding the current situation, the family’s relevant history, and the perspectives of its different members. Based on this initial assessment, we agree on goals together and decide which format of intervention is likely to work best at each stage.