What Is Family Therapy?

Family therapy is a form of counseling that focuses on improving relationships and communication among family members. Instead of looking at one person as “the problem,” family therapy views the family as a system—meaning everyone’s actions affect everyone else. A therapist helps the family understand patterns, resolve conflict, build healthier communication, and support one another more effectively.

Signs a Family Might Benefit From Family Therapy

Families often seek therapy when they feel “stuck” or overwhelmed. Some common signs include:

  • Frequent conflicts or tension that don’t get resolved

  • Breakdowns in communication—people feeling unheard, misunderstood, or shut down

  • Major life changes causing stress (divorce, blending families, relocation, illness)

  • Persistent behavioral issues with a child or teen

  • Emotional distance or withdrawal among family members

  • Struggles to set or respect boundaries

  • Concerns about mental health, substance use, or school issues

  • Feeling like family interactions are draining instead of supportive

You don’t need a crisis to start—many families use therapy as preventative support..

Common Family Therapy Modalities

Therapists may use one or more approaches depending on the family’s needs. Some widely used modalities include:

  • Structural Family Therapy: Focuses on family roles, boundaries, and organization.

  • Strategic Family Therapy: Addresses patterns and behaviors through specific tasks or interventions.

  • Bowen Family Systems Therapy: Explores family emotional patterns across generations.

  • Narrative Therapy: Helps family members rewrite unhelpful or limiting stories they hold about themselves or each other.

  • Cognitive-Behavioral Family Therapy (CBFT): Works on changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors within family interactions.

  • Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: Emphasizes strengths and small, practical steps toward change.

Areas of Concern Family Therapy Can Address

Family therapy can support a wide range of challenges, such as:

  • Communication problems

  • Conflict between parents and teens

  • Co-parenting after separation or divorce

  • Sibling conflict

  • Grief and loss

  • Depression, anxiety, or other mental health concerns in any family member

  • Trauma and stress reactions

  • Substance use or addiction issues

  • Blended-family adjustment

  • Chronic illness or caregiving stress

  • School or behavioral issues in children

It can also support families who want to strengthen connections even without a major problem.

Will Every Family Member Attend Every Week?

Not necessarily. Attendance varies depending on the goals and the therapist’s approach:

  • Sometimes all family members participate together.

  • Other times the therapist may meet with subgroups (e.g., parents only, siblings, or a parent-child pair).

  • Some sessions may include just one individual if it helps the whole system.

The therapist typically guides the structure and explains why certain people are included at certain times. The goal isn’t equal time for everyone—it’s progress for the family as a whole.