Family & Group Counselling
Looking at group dynamics, roles, patterns, and boundaries.
Family Counselling
What is Family Counselling?
“Family” is defined as a group of people who care about each other and call themselves a family. This could include parents and children, partners, grandparents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins, friends, caregivers, and other professionals that are close to the group.
Family therapy aims to help everyone in the family understand and support each other. This type of therapy can help when families feel overwhelmed, sad and angry; when they’re unsure how to move forward; or when they feel that they are repeating the same harmful behaviors repeatedly. Family therapy can be helpful if a family is dealing with changes associated with illness, mental health and substance use problems, unemployment, moving, aging, divorce, trauma, and death and grieving.
How Does Family Counselling Work?
Family counselling helps family members understand each other and work through difficult feelings in a safe space. This type of therapy focuses on improving the interactions and communication between family members. It is usually used when the family is contributing to a person’s difficulties or when one person’s problems are impacting other family members. When each person feels supported and works within their strengths, positive changes in relationships and in people’s lives will hopefully result.
Family therapists may:
- Talk about each person’s hopes
- Encourage everyone to talk about their experiences and listen to each other
- Clarify each person’s beliefs, values, needs, hopes, and assumptions so that everyone understands each other
- Help families stop blaming each other and begin exploring how everyone can work together to make positive changes
- Help people understand the impact of their words and behaviors on other members of the family
- Help families talk about the challenges they’re facing
- Support families as they work through their own goals.
Who can Benefit From Family Counselling?
Family Counselling can benefit family members of any age who are facing various experiences and challenges, including those who are:
- Seeking a closer relationship
- Facing challenges, such as mental or physical illnesses
- Worried about their children’s behavior
- Interested in fostering or adopting children
- Getting a divorce or separation.
Group Counselling
What is Group Counselling?
Group therapy involves one or more professionals who lead a group of roughly five to 15 patients. Typically, groups meet for an hour or two each week. Some people attend individual therapy in addition to groups, while others participate in groups only.
Many groups are designed to target a specific problem, such as depression, obesity, panic disorder, social anxiety, chronic pain or substance abuse. Other groups focus more generally on improving social skills, helping people deal with a range of issues such as anger, shyness, loneliness and low self-esteem. Groups often help those who have experienced loss, whether it be a spouse, a child or someone who died by suicide.
What are The Benefits to Group Counselling?
Groups can act as a support network and a sounding board. Other members of the group often help you come up with specific ideas for improving a difficult situation or life challenge and hold you accountable along the way.
Regularly talking and listening to others also helps you put your own problems in perspective. Many people experience mental health difficulties, but few speak openly about them to people they don’t know well.
Oftentimes, you may feel like you are the only one struggling, but you’re not. It can be a relief to hear others discuss what they’re going through, and realize you’re not alone.
Diversity is another important benefit of group therapy. People have different personalities and backgrounds, and they look at situations in different ways. By seeing how other people tackle problems and make positive changes, you can discover a whole range of strategies for facing your own concerns.
